Health

LGMC Expansion, Renovations Under Way

by Wynce Nolley

Not-for-profit medical center is investing $52.5 million in additional upgrades.

Not-for-profit medical center is investing $52.5 million in additional upgrades. By Wynce Nolley

November 2012

Lafayette General Medical Center is undergoing yet another face lift. Ground broke Oct. 8 on the construction of a four-story addition to the hospital along with a six-story parking garage.

According to LGMC officials, the $52.5 million project will increase the number of beds in the emergency department from 31 to 45 and bring LGMC's number of "state-of-the-art" operating rooms up to 13. The new construction will also offer a major technological upgrade to the facility in the form of a cutting-edge trauma elevator that will shave precious minutes off a trauma patient's journey from the helipad to the new emergency room and operating areas.

When the project wraps up as expected in summer 2014, drivers passing through the interchange of South College Drive, Coolidge Boulevard and Bendel Road will notice a new ground-level façade for the hospital, as well as a new "eased turn lane" into the hospital's 340-space parking garage.

The latest expansion comes after last year's completion of LGMC's two-year, $70 million renovation that increased patient rooms and remodeled the building's exterior. In 2006, the hospital created a "plush" Pavilion for women and children. The hospital has rehired for the job interior designer Marie Olivier Lukaszeski, who took home two IND Monthly INDesign Awards for her past two projects at LGMC.
Future plans could include adding six floors to the existing structure and expanding the total number of patient beds to 545.

As one of the five busiest hospitals in the state, LGMC officials say the hospital treats almost 60,000 patients a year. The new construction project, according to LGMC, is necessary to keep up with notable increase in patient volume the hospital is experiencing.