Mercy Health Muskegon breaks ground on $271 million expansion, renovation project

Rendering of expansion project

Mercy Health in Muskegon, Michigan has officially started work on a $271 million, nine-story medical center expected to open in June 2019.

Details of the new center's financing were not disclosed.

Once it's done, the new 267-bed hospital will house all of its medical and surgical services, from cardiovascular and orthopedics, to labor and delivery and trauma. Officials expect that consolidating the services into one place will eliminate confusion for patients, not to mention any duplicate work from staff members.

Additionally, a new 74-bed Universal Care Unit -- described as a "patient-centered" model that will provide private rooms for outpatients who don't require a hospital stay but who may need care for a few hours.

Other features of the new medical center include private inpatient rooms, a new emergency department, modernized surgical and procedural areas, the renovation of the existing campus and assorted other amenities and technologies.

[Also: Updated list of hospital contruction and expansion projects in 2016]

Mercy Health Muskegon Board Chairperson Scott Musselman said in statement that he hopes the new center will serve the community "for the next 100 years."

In January, healthcare ratings company Healthgrades named the Muskegon hospital as one of its 2016 winners of their Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. In all, 260 hospitals received the commendation. The awards are based on quality data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on all hospitals nationwide that participate in Medicare.

According to Healthgrades, the winners were among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide that "deliver high quality care across at least 21 of 32 common patient conditions and procedures."

However, in 2017, the hospital will be penalized for having readmission rates higher than the acceptable level set by CMS.

Twitter: @JELagasse