Lexington Medical Center breaks ground on clinical expansion
May 9, 2016
WEST COLUMBIA, SC – Lexington Medical Center held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday afternoon on the hospital campus in West Columbia to celebrate a significant clinical expansion that’s about to begin. Lexington Medical Center is building a 545,000-sq-ft patient care tower that will make Lexington Medical Center the most modern, state-of-the-art hospital in South Carolina.
The 10-story tower will initially add 71 inpatient beds to the 428-bed hospital with the ability to accommodate more patients in the future. It will feature patient rooms, operating rooms, educational space for staff and community members, and enhanced dining options, as well as expand the hospital’s Labor and Delivery and Mother/Baby departments.
“Our medical staff, employees and volunteers understand and embrace the belief that Lexington Medical Center is here to serve our friends and neighbors. The hospital is woven into the fabric of Lexington County and the Midlands,” said Tod Augsburger, president & CEO of Lexington Medical Center. “This clinical expansion will allow us to take care of our community for many years to come.”
Lexington Medical Center is one of the busiest surgical hospitals in South Carolina, performing more than 19,000 surgeries last year. The clinical expansion will include eight additional operating rooms for a total of 31 operating rooms on the hospital’s main campus, and an expanded surgical recovery area. Six floors of the new tower will accommodate medical, critical care and surgical patients.
Welcoming more than 3,700 babies each year, the clinical expansion will become home to the hospital’s Labor and Delivery and Mother/Baby departments. In the Special Care Nursery, the hospital’s tiniest patients will have private rooms, which is an innovative concept in the Midlands. Research has shown that private rooms provide more bonding opportunities for mothers and their babies, lead to better outcomes for babies’ growth and lower infection rates.
Because of the growth of the hospital and its network of care, the expansion will also include Lexington Medical Center’s Pharmacy department, which provides services for the hospital’s inpatient departments, six community medical and urgent care centers, and nearly 60 physician practices in 70 locations.
A new parking garage will add more than 950 parking spaces to the hospital’s campus and a central energy plant will support the service needs of the new tower.
The expansion is expected to be complete in 2019.
About Lexington Medical Center
Lexington Medical Center, in West Columbia, S.C., anchors a health care network that includes six community medical centers throughout Lexington County and employs a staff of 6,000 health care professionals. The network also includes comprehensive cardiovascular and oncology care affiliated with Duke Medicine, an occupational health center, the largest skilled nursing facility in the Carolinas and 58 physician practices. At its heart is the 428-bed state-of-the-art Lexington Medical Center, with a reputation for the highest quality care. Lexington Medical Center has won “Best Hospital” by readers of The State for 13 years, “Best Hospital” by readers of the Free Times, “Best Place to Have a Baby” by readers of Palmetto Parent and The State, the “Consumer Choice Award” from the National Research Corporation and the prestigious “Beacon of Excellence Award” from Press Ganey for outstanding patient satisfaction. Visit LexMed.com.
