Community Hospital Begins Its Largest Expansion in 20 Years

The Community Hospital in Munster, Ind., announces the construction of a $30 million same-day surgery center and medical office complex that will adjoin the main acute care medical center. The expansion will be the largest undertaken by the hospital in 20 years.

Construction on the four-story, 137,000-square-foot building will begin in early August, with completion slated for July, 1999. Calumet Construction Corp., of Hammond, Indiana, will direct the expansion project. One floor of the building will comprise the surgery center, two floors will be dedicated to physician offices and one to hospital administrative departments.

The new Community Surgery Center will enable the hospital to meet the growing demands for surgical services as well as respond to the continued changes in technology and medical practice, said Edward P. Robinson, administrator of The Community Hospital.

"Community Hospital has long been a leader in surgical care having opened the first ambulatory surgery and outpatient services pavilion back in 1984," Robinson said. "Today, we embark on another era, further expanding and improving our surgical services to provide the most efficient and coordinated care."

Much has changed since the hospital first constructed its ambulatory surgery and outpatient pavilion. Today, the hospital is the area's leader for open heart surgery, expecting to do more than 400 open heart surgeries this year. New neurosurgical services provided exclusively at Community Hospital by the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuoresearch have further expanded surgical services. And, the hospital continues to perform more outpatient procedures than any single hospital in Northwest Indiana.

Most important to the patient, and unlike free-standing surgery centers, the Community Surgery Center will be connected to the main hospital, directly linking patients to its advanced capabilities, technology and medical specialties, Robinson said.

Another advantage of the Community Surgery Center is that it will be designed specifically to meet the unique needs of patients who plan go home within 23 hours after a medical procedure is performed, Robinson said. The center is designed to make the whole process more efficient, reducing the cost and trauma for patients, he added.

Among the new efficiencies in the same-day surgery center will be an on-site pharmacy that will enable patients to fill their prescriptions without having to make an extra trip. Lab and radiology services will also be located in the surgery center, making it more convenient for patients to complete pre-admission or diagnostic tests.

With lab, radiology and a pharmacy located here, patients visiting their physicians in the medical office complex can coordinate all the care they may need with one visit and without traveling to different locations within Community Hospital or to other off-site locations, said Mary Caparros, Director of Professional Services.

"This new medical complex will help promote the coordination of care between the hospital and the physician," Caparros said. "The one-stop approach will make it extremely convenient for patients to access medical services across the entire spectrum of care."

The Community Surgery Center will occupy the first floor of the building. The second floor will be devoted to hospital-based departments while the third and fourth floor will be reserved for physician offices. The surgery center will be completed first, with the physician offices expected to open about a month later.

The construction will involve the temporary closure of a portion of MacArthur Boulvard and a realignment of the hospital's emergency drive-in entrance. The public is encouraged to access the drive-through emergency entrance off Calumet Avenue, or as a secondary route, Fisher Street.