Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Ground broken on Methodist McKinney Hospital

By Rodney Williams of McKinneyNews.net

Rodney Williams

Senior V.P. of Planning and Marketing Leslie Bardin, left, and Dr. Vudhi Slabisak hold aloft a proclamation from Texas Governor Rick Perry honoring the new Methodist McKinney Hospital.

MCKINNEY — Break out the golden shovels, there's a new hospital coming to town. Such was the case Tuesday at the northwest corner of Eldorado Pkwy. and Stonebridge Dr. as representatives officially broke ground on what will become Methodist McKinney Hospital.

Methodist McKinney Hospital (MMH) is a joint venture partnership between area physicians, Methodist Health System and Nueterra Healthcare. There is a wide mixture of physician specialties involved including: primary care, orthopedics, general surgery, otolaryngology, neurosurgery, gynecology, and pain management. The hospital will focus on treating patients appropriate for its mix of medical specialties and services.

The vision of local doctor Vudhi Slabisak, MMH has been in the planning stages for two years. In that time, a 13-member group of doctors has steered the project through talks with the City of McKinney and town hall-type meetings with residents living in the area.

"It's a great day here," said Leslie Barden, Senior Vice President of Planning and Marketing for Methodist Health System.

Barden could have also said it's been a great week for the project. Interestingly, for a project that has been in the works for two years, the past seven days have been a productive whirlwind of activity. In the past week, the final decision was made on the interior design of the hospital and on the exterior renderings. In addition, Methodist Health System closed on a new real estate company to help develop the property.

The hospital itself is impressive, at least in the renderings shown to those on hand for the ceremony. The structure - which boasts at least 65,000 square feet of space - will be two stories with criss-crossing rectangular structures. The bottom floor of the hospital will house patient services, an emergency room, six operating rooms, diagnostic services, chapel, lounge area and a cafeteria. Patients should receive all services on the first floor, while the second floor will host patient rooms.

The fact that the hospital will have an emergency room is interesting. Originally, plans called for no intensive care unit, trauma ward or emergency room as residents of the area voiced concerns early on about the neighborhood impact of ambulance sirens.

Two out of three isn't bad. MMH will have an emergency room, though it will not have the kind of traffic a larger hospital would normally expect due to the boutique nature of the facility.

"In the State of Texas, to be licensed as a hospital you have to have an emergency room, it's a requirement," Barden explained. "We are going to have limited services. It won't have the full scope of services that, say, a McKinney Medical Center offers."

Barden went on to state that MMH will be geared toward "low intensity" emergencies, such as scrapes, sprains and strains and will be open 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

Slabisak, however, wasn't concerned with what the hospital won't be. Instead, he beamed with pride throughout the ceremony, at one point even presenting bouguets of flowers to his two daughters on hand, as well as Barden, whom he credited with being instrumental in getting the project this far. Slabisak also reflected on the past two years, including his first conversations with Methodist Health System.

"They turned me down," said Slabisak with a laugh. "They said they build nothing north of the Trinity River."

They do now. MMH will be the first hospital in the Methodist Health System north of the Trinity.

MMH is scheduled for completion in the Fall of 2009.

Pegasus News content partner - McKinneyNews.net

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