Cullman Regional starts expansion with groundbreaking today

Published 5:15 am Wednesday, January 4, 2017

By Tiffeny Owens

In this Times file photo, Cullman Regional Marketing Specialist Meredith Easterwood, left, explains to Roger Moran, right, with Ace LLC Solar how a new 30-bed expansion will fit with the rest of the medical center during the State of the Hospital.

Cullman Regional is expanding to accommodate more patients, with officials planning to break ground today on a $14 million project to add a fifth floor for 30 more beds.  

At 1 p.m., hospital officials and local dignitaries will gather at the hospital’s Col. Cullmann room where CEO James Clements, Hospital Board Building and Grounds Committee Chair Dennis Richard and Alabama Certificate of Need (CON) Board Chairman Neal Morrison are scheduled to speak ahead of the official groundbreaking ceremony outside. 

Plans calls for a fifth level to be added to the patient tower on the east wing, with the goal to open the new expansion in the fall of 2018. The project is expected to create 30 new jobs initially and up to 100 more as patient growth continues, Clements said.

The new wing will increase the availability of private rooms, decrease wait times for beds and improve emergency room wait times and patient safety. Patient volume continues to climb at the rural hospital that serves a six-county area, with 2015 inpatient visits up 7 percent over 2014 and outpatient visits up 2 percent.

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Another $3 million in additional outpatient facilities are planned to get underway in 2017. 

 

Tiffeny Owens can be reached at 256-734-2131, ext. 135.

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