StoneCrest Medical Center Expands To Keep Up With County’s Explosive Growth
darla lambert, economic growth, health care, healthcare, maura campbell, neil heatherly, rutherford county, stonecrest medical center, tristar family of hospitals,
The intersection of Interstate 24 and Sam Ridley Parkway was little more than a rolling field full of trees when the TriStar Family of Hospitals broke ground there in 2002.
Today‚ StoneCrest Medical Center‚ a $100 million hospital with 75 beds and more than 275 physicians on staff‚ is situated on 43 acres at the expanding interchange and offers Rutherford County residents a full array of acute-care services.
On the eve of its third anniversary in operation‚ the medical center is already experiencing growing pains as a result of Rutherford County’s boom in population.
During 2007‚ StoneCrest will undergo an $8.6 million expansion of its surgical department‚ adding two finished operating rooms‚ six additional recovery rooms‚ six more same-day surgery rooms and two shelled operating rooms.
According to Neil Heatherly‚ CEO of StoneCrest Medical Center‚ the hospital is expecting a 13 percent growth rate in number of patients seen overall in 2006‚ with more than 5‚800 surgeries projected.
“Our success really began on the local level with the overwhelming support of the community‚” says Heatherly‚ who has led the hospital since its inception. “When you combine that with the amazing growth taking place in Rutherford County‚ you can see why we’re already facing capacity issues‚ but we’re more than prepared to expand.”
Along with the surgical expansion‚ the medical center is also planning a $4.5 million construction project to add 26 medical/surgical beds in 2007‚ in addition to an already completed expansion of its outpatient physical medicine department that houses physical therapy‚ occupational therapy and speech therapy.
“With these projects in the works and those planned for the future‚ we’re in a position to meet the needs of patients in the community both now and into the future‚” Heatherly says.
Adjacent to the medical center is a 160‚000-square-foot complex occupied by a variety of physicians offices‚ as well as the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center‚ which opened in 2005 and provides cancer patients in Rutherford County with access to radiation therapy‚ IMRT‚ brachytherapy and treatment planning.
For doctors like Maura Campbell‚ medical director of the cancer center‚ the addition of this state-of-the-art facility demonstrates the StoneCrest’s commitment to the highest quality of care.
“It makes some of the most sophisticated cancer treatments available closer to home for our patients‚” says Campbell‚ who moved her Radiation Oncology Program to StoneCrest in 2004 from Middle Tennessee Medical Center. “We believe – and our patients almost uniformly tell us – that we have the best staff in Middle Tennessee.”
“When you look at how the center is laid out‚ it’s warm‚ friendly and comfortable‚” she adds. “Patients feel safe and protected here and can focus on the treatment at hand.”
Story by Valerie Pascoe
Photo by Michael W. Bunch
