The new hospital at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri's Ozarks will begin hosting patients next week.
The facility includes more than 225,000 square feet of hospital and clinic space, including three operating rooms, one dedicated C-section room and Level III trauma emergency facilities that can handle events including mass casualty response and decontamination.
"This facility will serve as a cornerstone of readiness for Fort Leonard Wood," said Col. Alexander Lovasz, deputy commander at the instillation, "ensuring our soldiers are healthy and resilient and prepared to meet the challenge of the future."
The hospital primarily serves soldiers, their families and veterans in the area, a total of more than 34,000 people in a 40-mile radius. But as the only hospital in Pulaski County, it can also be used in certain emergency circumstances.
The new General Leonard Wood Community Hospital replaces its 60-year-old predecessor, a building so old that its MRI machines were off-site because it was built before that technology and not designed to house the equipment.
Construction on the $400 million facility has taken longer than initially planned, starting in June 2020 with a projected opening in fall 2024.
"When I took command in October of 2024, some believed the hospital would not open during my tenure," said Col. Angela Diebal-Lee, director of the hospital and commander of medical activity at Fort Leonard Wood. "All I thought was: challenge accepted."
In the uncertain world of federal funding, completion of the hospital is giving assurances to civic leaders that Fort Leonard Wood is a priority for the Department of Defense.
"We are confident in Fort Leonard Wood's future, and the hospital adds to that," said St. Robert Mayor James Breckenridge. "It is an important sign we're growing and we're going to continue to grow."
The new hospital means job opportunities both for soldiers and civilians, as well as a health care system that will be attractive to military retirees, said Dorsey Newcomb, executive director of the Sustainable Ozarks Partnership, a regional group that supports Fort Leonard Wood.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is building a new health care clinic in Rolla, 30 miles from Fort Leonard Wood, and the two facilities plan to work together to provide complementary services.
"It should help us attract more and more retirees and military families that want to be here because the quality of life is great, and you know health care is very important to all of that," Newcomb said.
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