Eye Foundation Hospital Renovation Project

The first phase of a $10 million Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital construction and renovation project is nearing completion. As part of the master plan to update the entire facility, the current project features the addition of a seventh floor to the professional building, adding 20,726 square feet, and renovation of selected hospital areas.

"These renovations will allow us to increase needed space for faculty and medical staff and accommodate increased patient volumes with more efficiency," says Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital President Raymond Butler, FACHE. "Scheduled for completion in May, the seventh floor of the professional building provides additional office space for ophthalmologists desiring to move into the facility, as well as space for expansion of the Ophthalmology Services Foundation.

"A few years ago, we renovated the hospital's first floor. Now, we will renovate the second and third floors," Butler continues. The second floor will feature expanded surgical services. Currently, the floor houses an inpatient unit, presurgical registration and holding, nine surgical suites, and recovery. The renovation also includes expansion of the postanesthesia care and preoperative care unit from 17 to 24 bays, addition of a presurgical assessment clinic, 24 intake rooms, a laboratory, and an updated nursing station and physician locker/lounge area.

"When developing the design, our goals were to improve patient flow, surgical safety and efficiency, and patient confidentiality, while offering better access and comfort for patients and their families," Butler says.

Upgrades to the third floor include relocation of the inpatient unit from the second floor and the emergency department from the first floor. "The relocation consolidates all our 24-hour, 7-day-a-week clinical functions, which will improve operational efficiency, quality of care, and safety," Butler explains. "We also are adding 20 private patient rooms, two of which will have family suites. Also included are three guest suites in a hotel-type design for patients requiring sitter care, but who do not meet hospital inpatient criteria." The pharmacy, staff lounge and locker rooms, and staff offices also are located on this floor.

As with the most recent renovations, William Blackstock serves as architect and Brice Building is the general contractor. The seventh-floor addition is scheduled for completion in May, with hospital renovations continuing for approximately 24 months.