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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 20, 2006 Providence preps for expansion By Bill Kettler Mail Tribune Before anything else, comes the parking garage. Providence Medford Medical Center plans to build new patient rooms, expand its maternity center and add a medical office building over the next few years, but first the hospital must make room for all those new patients to park. "We need to do the parking garage first to meet city code for parking spaces before we can add any more clinical space," said Brian Herwig, Providence's assistant administrator for professional services. Medford building officials have given final approval for the hospital's four-story parking structure near the corner of Royal Avenue and McAndrews Road. The 608-space garage will add several hundred new parking spaces and compensate for parking that will be lost as Providence erects new buildings on its 22-acre campus. The garage was designed to allow two more floors, or about 300 additional parking spaces, Herwig said. The $13.2 million parking garage is the second phase of a multi-year, $60 million expansion plan that Providence managers announced in August 2004. The hospital doubled the size of its emergency department during 2004-05 in the first phase of the expansion. Advertisement The plan also calls for doubling the size of Providence's "BirthPlace" maternity center; constructing a medical office building adjacent to the garage; and adding as many as 100 new patient rooms in a three- or four-story "bed tower" that would be built near the hospital's main entrance. Plans call for connecting the medical office building to the existing Providence Plaza by a second-story covered walkway that would give patients access to every part of the hospital without going outdoors. Population growth in Southern Oregon is driving the hospital's decision to invest in expansion, Herwig said. Demographers have predicted that Southern Oregon will continue to add thousands of new residents over the next 20 years, and many of them will be older people in need of health care. "We intend to grow with the community," he said. Herwig noted that all of Providence Medford's service lines grew during the past year. Visits to the Providence Medical Group physicians increased 21.2 percent; emergency visits rose 6.4 percent; and hospital admissions grew 8.3 percent. Births increased 33.3 percent; inpatient rehabilitation grew 7.2 percent; and outpatient visits grew 3.7 percent. Growth has been a major focus for all three Jackson County hospitals over the past five years. Rogue Valley Medical Center completed a $120 million expansion in August 2005, and Ashland Community Hospital launched a $15 million project to add more patient rooms and surgery suites in 2003. Herwig said work on the parking garage will start in May with the demolition of several medical office buildings near Royal Avenue. Builders could start on the BirthPlace expansion by July. Herwig said trees along the perimeter of the Providence campus will be preserved, but some trees near the medical office buildings will be lost when the parking garage is built. He said hospital managers will strive to keep traffic moving smoothly on the Providence campus during construction. All entries to the campus will remain open and signs will direct patients and visitors to parking. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or by e-mail at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Email Security Advertisement s Advertisement