FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MEDICAL WEST HOSTS RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY AND OPEN HOUSE FOR STATE’S FIRST FREESTANDING EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT OPENING NEXT WEEK
Birmingham, AL – April 28, 2015 – History will be made on Monday, May 4 at 9am as UAB Medical West, an affiliate of the UAB Health System, holds a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House for the first Freestanding Emergency Department (FED) in the state of Alabama. Media and public are welcome to attend. The UAB Medical West FED will begin accepting patients the next morning- Tuesday, May 5 at 7 am.
The 24,342 square foot development next to the new Sprouts, near the intersection of Highway 150 and Interstate 459 in Hoover, Alabama was a joint effort of several Birmingham based companies. Harbert Realty Services, developer of the FED; Medical Properties Trust, Inc. the owner and financier; Brasfield and Gorrie, the general contractor; and Sims Architectural Studio, Inc., the architect of the development, all played major roles in the facility’s development. The total investment in the project was approximately $13.5 million and will consist of 10 exam rooms, 2 trauma rooms, CT, X-ray, General and Vascular Ultrasound, EKG, Laboratory and room for expansion.
The UAB Medical West FED will offer the same quality of service provided by its existing Emergency Room and Emergency Physicians in Bessemer, including convenient outpatient diagnostic services. UAB Medical West is projecting between 12,000-15,000 emergency visits per year.
Keith Pennington, CEO and President of UAB Medical West, stated: “UAB Medical West is excited to take the leadership role in being the first to offer this new service that will expand healthcare access to the growing Hoover community- the largest community in Alabama without acute healthcare services. I am so proud of our team of Alabama firms that helped turn this vision into a reality. We are thrilled to bring cutting edge emergency medicine to this area.”
“The UAB Medical West FED has hired approximately 65 employees to meet the needs of the Hoover community. The FED is staffed with board-certified emergency physicians and nurses,” said Monty Gooch, RN, Director of the UAB Medical West FED. “We have state of the art CT scanning, ultrasound and digital X-ray, as well as a full-service lab- all provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to meet the needs of the community. We are able to stabilize and arrange transport to more definitive care, should the need arise.”
Harbert Realty Services, the developer of the project, has a long history of developing projects that create value for its clients and partners. Additionally, the firm has successfully developed a number of medical facilities for clients and its own portfolio. “We are very pleased to be working with such great partners as UAB Medical West, Medical Properties Trust, Brasfield & Gorrie and SAS on this project. As the first Freestanding Emergency Department for the state of Alabama, this development is a trendsetter for the region, and we are thrilled to be part of it. Harbert has led the way on many groundbreaking projects over the years, and this is another great collaboration that we will be proud of for decades to come,” according to Norman Tynes, Executive Vice President at Harbert Realty Services.
The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House is planned for Monday, May 4 at 9 am. Media and public are welcome to attend. The UAB Medical West FED will be open for business on Tuesday, May 5 at 7 am.