Although the ground at the southwest corner of Highway 370 and 25th Street remains undisturbed, plans continue to move forward with the Bellevue Medical Center.
Since May, when The Nebraska Medical Center announced plans to build a new hospital in Bellevue, behind-the-scenes work has continued.
Probably the most substantial development is the selection of the board of directors for the Bellevue hospital. The board began meeting in August. Its members are:
A final board member will be the new chief of staff at the Bellevue Medical Center, who will be named soon.
“Bellevue Medical Center will provide a natural extension of the extraordinary care our patients have come to expect,” said Glenn Fosdick, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical Center. “It’s already a source of great pride for everyone involved, from hospital and community leaders to the talented physicians who are helping make this dream a reality.”
Bellevue Medical Center will house 200,000 square feet of comprehensive patient services, including emergency care, obstetrics, inpatient and outpatient surgery, intensive care, cardiac catheterization, pharmacy, radiology and lab testing. Current plans allow for approximately 80 private inpatient and observation beds with enough space to add 60 more beds in the future.
A new medical office building adds another 60,000 square feet to the project. The office building is adjacent to the main hospital and will enhance patient care by providing additional areas for clinics and offering state-of-the-art diagnostic services to assist physicians in prompt diagnosis and treatment.
The board of directors has selected Frauenshuh Healthcare as the developer for the facility. Frauenshuh also developed the Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital.
“We had such a positive experience with Frauenshuh relating to the Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital,” said Cindy Arbaugh, project administrator for the Bellevue Medical Center. “We’re very excited to be able to work with them once again on this project.”
Another new development was the recent hiring of Nicky Wik as physicians and public affairs coordinator.
Wik will handle physician communication, as well as overseeing the hospital’s Web site development.
The staff has also been researching the possibility of opening a time-share clinic for physicians that will be on staff at the new hospital but who don’t have clinic space in Bellevue. It will give those physicians an opportunity to begin seeing patients in Bellevue before the hospital is open to the public.
The preliminary cost of the hospital is estimated at $58 million. The total for the entire project could approach $90 million. The overall project is expected to support 700 new jobs.
Groundbreaking is expected to take place in spring 2007 and plans are for the hospital to be completed in late 2008.