The Cullman Regional Medical Center could soon add a third professional office building to its complex along State Highway 157, according to CRMC President and CEO Jim Weidner.

Weidner delivered his remarks to local business leaders at CRMC’s annual state of the hospital luncheon, which also included the hospital’s plans to add a neonatal intensive care unit and stereotactic breast biopsy procedure; an update on the facility’s facelift to its emergency department; and an introduction to Pegasus Emergency Group, CRMC’s new emergency room physician contractor.

Weidner said plans are under way for CRMC to christen a third professional office building by summer 2009.

“The physicians have met and what they’re doing now is finalizing the amount of space that they need and who the occupants will be,” said Weidner after the luncheon. “Once that’s firmed up — and that should be firmed up in the next 60 days — the group will get financing and will pick the contractor and start construction.

Weidner added a 15-month gap would separate the start of any binding agreement and the end of construction.

“The expectation is that all that happens in early summer,” Weidner said. “The hospital has not signed anything binding with the physician group. The target is to be finished by mid-summer 2009.”

Weidner’s address also raised the possibility CRMC will add a neonatal intensive care unit in the coming months, an addition that would allow mothers whose babies have complications to stay in Cullman after delivering a child.

“We deliver a thousand babies a year here, and about a hundred babies a year of those thousand we have to transfer out to a more intensive unit that provides better care for the baby,” Weidner said.

“Right now we are in the interview stages of interviewing neonatology groups. There’s four — three from Birmingham, one from Huntsville — that we’re interviewing, and ... if one of those four groups are interested in helping us set up a neonatal intensive care unit, then we would move forward with the construction.”

According to Weidner, CRMC officials should reach a decision later this year before plans are drawn up and operational details worked out.

“We would hope that we could start construction later this year,” he said.

Biopsy technology

Weidner also outlined plans for the hospital to overhaul its breast biopsy procedure, calling the current setup CRMC’s “Achilles heel.” According to Weidner, the hospital will try to raise enough money to replace the current procedure with stereotactic breast biopsy, a less invasive and more accurate procedure.

“The existing process is probably 15, 20 years behind where it needs to be and where our women in our community can get care,” said Weidner. “The new process will be done in one step with a simple insertion of a needle that will take the biopsy. It’s less scarring, it’s more accurate, and it’s less cost and stress to the patient.”

CRMC hopes to raise money for the equipment via a gala and golf tournament later this year.

“The gala is April 5th, the golf outing sometime this summer,” Weidner said. “Our expectation is that we (will) have stereotactic breast biopsy by the summer. We need good participation by the community at the gala and the golf outing.”

Emergency room changes

Weidner said renovation of CRMC’s emergency room facilities is progressing according to plan, with its end date coinciding with the start of CRMC’s new contract with Pegasus Emergency Group.

“We’re targeting to have our facelift construction done by April 1,” Weidner said. “(It will be) in time for Pegasus to start up.”

Pegasus, an emergency medicine physician staffing group out of Flemington, New Jersey, will take over emergency room physician staffing decisions from Team Health starting March 31. Dr. Neil Schamban, formerly of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center of Newark, New Jersey, has already agreed to join CRMC as its new emergency room medical director.

Pegasus CEO Dr. Elliot Justin said his company will raise the quality of physician in CRMC’s emergency room.

“All the doctors here will be resident trained specialists,” Justin said. “I believe this will be the only 100 percent residency trained emergency room in Alabama.”

Justin added CRMC will play an integral role in hiring decisions.

“Every candidate we’ve interviewed, we’ve shared their resumes (with CRMC),” said Justin.

“More importantly, our medical staff is involved,” Weidner said, noting the medical staff was involved with the search for a new contractor.

Weidner said Pegasus will significantly raise the quality of care in CRMC’s emergency room.

“They are going to raise the standard of care seen in the emergency department to a standard that is not seen statewide,” said Weidner. “They’ve demonstrated that at every hospital that they’ve been at.”

Weidner’s address also included:

‰ CRMC’s inclusion as U.S. News & World Report’s list of top 100 hospitals for heart failure treatment.

‰ Plans for computer-assisted knee replacement equipment for more precise joint replacement.

‰ CRMC’s plans to go tobacco-free by Aug. 8.