CoxHealth unveils plans for Orthopedic Center of Excellence

CoxHealth officials on Nov. 25 announced major changes coming to the Cox Walnut Lawn campus, with a significant donation tying those plans together.

A $1.5 million donation from the Kenneth E. and Jane A. Meyer Foundation will be used to develop Meyer Orthopedic Center, an orthopedic specialty hospital.

Meyer Orthopedic Center will be the centerpiece of the planned Orthopedic Center of Excellence, consolidating the health system's orthopedic services at Cox Walnut Lawn, according to a CoxHealth news release.

Meyer Orthopedic Center will have 35 private orthopedic patient rooms, a 15-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit and a 35-bed transitional care unit. Four orthopedic operating rooms will be added, as well as nine post-anesthesia care unit beds and a new central sterile supply area.

Meyer Orthopedic Care Center will be adjacent to the Meyer Center for Wellness and Rehabilitation and the Bone and Joint Center, which houses physician offices.

"The efficiencies created for our physicians will allow us to provide exceptional service for our patients," said Ron Prenger, vice president of clinical services and administrator of Cox Walnut Lawn, in the release.

The Meyer Foundation's contribution follows its major gift in 2002 that established the Meyer Center for Wellness and Rehabilitation.

Construction on the Meyer Orthopedic Center will occur in four phases:

• Phase I includes upgrades of the transitional care unit and front entry façade, as well as remodeling of some patient rooms and bariatric accommodations.

• Phase II entails remodeling inpatient rehabilitation, with all rooms being upgraded to meet rehab needs and comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

• Phase III covers orthopedic medical and surgical patient rooms, designed with satellite nursing stations in pods, and 25-yard spacing designed into the flooring so that therapists can measure patient progress.

• Phase IV renovates surgery areas, including construction of the four operating rooms and upgrades of two existing operating rooms, as well as the central sterile supply area. Urgent care at Cox Walnut Lawn will be relocated to an undetermined location to facilitate expansion of the surgical area.

Other changes at Cox Walnut Lawn include an ambulatory surgery center that already is under construction and will be used for nonorthopedic outpatient surgeries and house medical offices and CoxHealth's Diabetes Center. The ambulatory surgery center is slated for completion in October.

The entire Cox Walnut Lawn project - at a total cost of $47.8 million - is slated to wrap up in February 2010.