By Kelley Weiss
Kansas City, MO – Saint Luke's Hospital is starting construction on two new centers for women's health. Hospital officials say these centers will make it easier for women to access healthcare. KCUR's Kelley Weiss reports.
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One of the facilities - the Ellen J. Hockaday Center for Women's Care - will focus on providing one-stop shopping for women's health, like offering cancer screenings, complementary medicine and menopause services. Next to it will be the Muriel I. Kauffman Women's Heart Center. The existing 12-year-old women's heart center at Saint Luke's will move into the new building that will have female cardiologists specializing in women's heart disease.
Mark Litzler, executive director of Saint Luke's Hospital Foundation, says these specialized centers will better serve a large patient base.
Mark Litzler: "Well we recognize women as kind of the central point to healthcare for their families and for themselves certainly."
The women's health center, estimated to cost $11 million, is expected to open in 2008 and the women's heart center, with an expected $8 million price tag, is scheduled to open in 2010.