Lima Memorial to embark upon $30M expansion

6/16/2006

LIMA, Ohio - Lima Memorial Health System announced plans yesterday for a $30 million expansion project that would convert all of its patient rooms into private rooms, expand its cardiac services, and create a pediatrics unit.

The work will include a renovation of the hospital's patient care tower to feature larger rooms with state-of-the-art equipment. A new pediatric center will be designed around the needs of children and plans call for offering additional pediatric specialty outpatient clinics and specialized pediatric emergency care.

The project "will transform Lima Memorial into an environment where patients and their families have individualized space complemented by our personalized care," Michael D. Swick, LMHS president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "The new facilities also will help our caregiving team provide a higher quality of care through streamlined facilities and advanced technologies."

The project comes at a time when medical care in Lima is undergoing a radical face-lift.

St. Rita's Medical Center is in the midst of a $130 million building project that will increase its capacity from 300 to 400 and create an expanded campus at its near-downtown location.

St. Rita's spokesman Linda Chartrand said yesterday that the project is ahead of schedule because of the mild winter and favorable spring weather.

"Our target date is January 2008, but we will probably open some parts of the facility in 2007," she said.

The hospitals have traditionally served patients from a 10-county area.