Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, located just south of the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area in Mansfield, Texas, has embarked on a $34 million expansion project.
International architectural firm RTKL Associates, Inc., the hospital's original architect, is heading the design and construction of the new facilities. RTKL will finish existing shell space with the addition of patient rooms and an expansion of the emergency department.
The all-digital, "new market" healthcare facility, which opened in December 2006, was the first hospital to be located in the rapidly growing area. Its original design incorporated unfinished shell space for 80 beds and land for potential growth in the expectation that the city's population would continue to expand.
According to hospital officials, the demand for patient care has grown steadily since Methodist Mansfield opened, and the emergency department alone has experienced a significant increase in patients since March of last year. As a result, Methodist Health System's Board of Directors approved a two-phase expansion plan.
For the first phase of construction, RTKL will create a 36-bed medical/surgical unit on the fourth floor of the patient tower and finish the fifth floor for future expansion. The second phase will involve an expansion of the emergency department that will increase the total number of treatment rooms to 35.
In addition, eight beds will be added to the intensive care unit, doubling the department's size.
Phase I is slated for completion in early 2009, with phase II construction ending later that year.