Samaritan Medical Center will host a series of community meetings, beginning Monday, to inform north country residents about the hospital's $61 million expansion and its ongoing effort to recruit physicians.
The meetings, which SMC President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas H. Carmen started in spring 2005, also will allow the community to offer feedback about the hospital's plans.
"What we want to do is open up the line of communication for them to be aware of some things we're doing that have been identified by them," said Krista A. Kittle, SMC spokeswoman.
The first meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church, 403 Washington St., with five other meetings taking place at various locations in Jefferson County until March 26.
It's important to hear the community's input, Ms. Kittle said, so SMC administration and staff can gather perceptions about health care locally.
"Some of the things that came out of the town meetings back in 2005 was physician recruitment and improving service in the emergency room," she said.
Although recruiting physicians to rural areas has been difficult over the past several years, Samaritan has started to gain momentum in bringing doctors to the north country.
"We're making sure that the community has access to different specialties and adequate numbers in those specialties," Ms. Kittle said. "Any hospital in this region recognizes that physician recruitment is a priority."
In December, SMC welcomed Dr. Bhasker V. Reddy, a general surgeon. Dr. Tony C.Y. Chuang, an ear, nose and throat specialist, joined the staff in January. Dr. Bradford K. Bilicki, general surgeon, will join the staff this summer upon completion of his residency at Pontiac (Mich.) Osteopathic Hospital.
Ms. Kittle said she received notice last week that Dr. Benjamin Rudd will join one of the Samaritan Family Health Centers later this year upon completion of his family practice residency at Carbondale Memorial Hospital through Southern Illinois University.
Dr. David Reindl, a gastroenterologist, will join SMC this summer.
Ms. Kittle said several other doctors with various specialties are in different stages of discussion with SMC.
New SMC physicians will be discussed during each of the community meetings.
The other highlight of the meetings will be the hospital's $61 million expansion project that is slated to begin next month with groundbreaking on a three-story parking garage.
"We want to update where we are in terms of the specifics of the project," Ms. Kittle said. "A lot of people look at the building as the only piece of our strategic plan. It's an important step for us to move forward in physician recruiting and other areas of our plan."
The expansion and renovation project includes a 375-space parking garage, which also will have a helipad, and a 112,000-square-foot patient pavilion.
The hospital also will renovate 71,500 square feet, including centralized outpatient services and registration, an expanded maternity unit, a new neonatal intensive care unit and more private rooms.
For more information about the community meetings, call SMC's Community Relations Department at 779-5230.
