Citizens Memorial plans $18M expansion

Citizens Memorial Healthcare is set to build a a two-story, 80,000-square-foot addition to its Kerry and Synda Douglas Medical Center, a project that would cost $18.2 million.

The Bolivar health care system has scheduled a March 13 groundbreaking for the project, which would expand the 1155 W. Parkview St. facility to nearly 120,000 square feet, according to a news release.

The medical center, named after Bolivar attorney and CMH supporter Kerry Douglas of Douglas, Haun & Heidemann PC and his late wife, Synda, is located on the hospital's main campus in Bolivar. The facility houses the health system's ambulatory surgical center, its main rehabilitation services clinic and special physician clinics.

CMH has contracted DeWitt & Associates Inc. as construction manager for the project, which is expected to take 15 to 17 months to complete once construction begins next month, the release said.

Funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan, the expansion would create:

• added office space;
• a larger ambulatory surgical area with four new surgical suites, an additional endoscopic lab and a remodeled pre- and post-operation area;
• an imaging center;
• an expanded Women's Center; and
• space to relocate the CMH Surgical Services operation, its Wound and Hyperbaric Center and its Information Services Department.

“The new facility is designed with the patient experience in mind,” CMH CEO Donald Babb said in the release. “We understand that patients and their families may spend a lot of time with us as they use our health care services. We want them to have an excellent experience - from our medical and nursing staff to our modern facilities. We want to ensure that the patient needs come first, and we are building this facility with that in mind.”