University of Missouri Health System officials and UM System President Tim Wolfe officially opened the new patient care tower at the MU Hospital at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning.
The tower will provide increased space and new technology for Mid-Missouri patients, as well as a new home for the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. The cancer center will provide up-to-date medical imaging units, 66 outpatient exam rooms, a cancer rehabilitation gym and technology allowing patients to receive chemotherapy treatments on an outpatient basis.
The center will also feature a healing garden, one of many environmentally friendly features of the tower. New features include increased natural light and insulation, recycled materials and plant-covered roofs to reduce rainwater runoff.
“All of these features are part of a construction project designed as a ‘green’ or sustainable structure,” said Dr. Paul Dale, interim medical direct of the center. “This building was designed and build to foster the health and well-being of our patients and staff who will inhabit the building, but also to reduce the overall impact of the structure on our natural environment.”
UM System President Tim Wolfe emphasized the economic side of the patient center.
“At a time when many hospitals are cutting staff, deferring capital improvements and even closing, MU Health Care is creating new jobs, seeing increased patient volumes, managing its financial resources wisely and positioning itself to provide world-class healthcare to Missourians well into the future,” Wolfe said.
The new tower will provide 97 new jobs, with the majority in nursing positions. The addition will welcome its first patients next week.