From patience to patients, Grandview Medical Center finally a reality
Keith Granger talks about new equipment in the Grandview Medical Center. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)
Above: Keith Granger talks about new equipment in the Grandview Medical Center. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)
Grandview Medical Center ready to open from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Today, Grandview Medical Center is just a building, albeit a beautiful and shiny glass and steel structure packed with the latest in medical equipment and abuzz with medical professionals and staff preparing to receive patients.
Tomorrow, it becomes a hospital when its first patients arrive – the result of months of planning and a logistical undertaking to move those patients the nine miles from Trinity Medical Center to Grandview Medical Center.
“We spent the last year to 18 months planning for the move day,” said Keith Granger, president and CEO of Grandview Medical Center.
This week, personnel have been preparing equipment in the rooms at Grandview to be ready to receive patients from Trinity. Caregivers will travel with patients as they are moved in groups of four to 10 ambulances at a time.
“We have approximately 40 ambulances lined up,” Granger said. “They will all be transporting patients throughout the day on Saturday. We will start about 6 a.m. and we hope by mid- to late-afternoon to have that transfer process complete.”
Moving into the hospital has taken more than 14 years since the hospital was first announced by former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy as the “digital hospital” of the future. After a long-running fraud at HealthSouth was exposed, the uncompleted hospital was shuttered. Other hospital operators explored reviving the plans and real estate developers looked to convert it into an office, apartments and even a hotel.
Trinity Medical Center worked out a deal to finish the hospital, add a professional office building and parking deck and create Grandview Medical Center. After regulatory issues and legal challenges from competitors delayed the plans for a few more years, Trinity won in court and moved forward.
Trinity has spent $300 million to complete the hospital and get it ready for Saturday’s move-in day.
A look inside reveals a hospital full of amenities and technology that wasn’t available at the time Scrushy made the “digital hospital” announcement.
“He did pick a great location for a hospital,” Granger said of Scrushy.
From imaging and diagnostic equipment to the latest in emergency room gear, new laboratory machinery, patient monitoring, patient education and a new level of interactive technology, Granger said Grandview Medical Center goes beyond what anyone could have envisioned in 2001.
“We will be introducing a couple of new concepts here into the market – in fact, new into the Southeast in many cases,” he said. “This building is built in such a way that we can provide extensive outpatient services along with the inpatient care. We’ve got the inpatient intensive care capabilities and specialty care capabilities that a building of the future has to have.”
Even with all of the new technology, care was taken to make Grandview feel inviting and comfortable for patients and their families, Granger said.
From wood-grain finishes to soft colors, lots of sunlight, spacious bathrooms and contemporary furniture, special details are found throughout the 12-story hospital.
On the Women’s Services floor, there is the old-fashioned large baby-viewing window but there are also spacious labor and delivery rooms and individual neonatal intensive care unit rooms.
Alabama artists’ works are found throughout the hospital. A modern cafeteria includes a wide range of dining options indoors and outdoor seating.
The larger hospital has room to grow and Granger said Grandview is already experiencing it.
“We’ve added a couple of hundred people in the last 60 days. We expect those numbers will continue to grow and we look forward to serving the community,” Granger said. “We intend to add staff as required as those volumes grow. We have very bright expectations going forward in the future and we expect double-digit growth in many areas of our facility.”
Although there continues to be concern in the community about what Grandview Medical Center will do to U.S. 280 traffic, Granger said efforts to minimize the impact should be effective.
“We’ve been thrilled by the work that ALDOT has done,” he said. “We think the changes they made about a year ago dramatically improved the flow. While it was controversial at the time, I think the reality is it worked and the community recognizes that.”
Granger said he thinks every concern has been addressed and every detail has been minded. Now it’s time to turn the building into a hospital.
“It’s obviously an exciting week for us,” he said.
