Anticipating strong patient demand, The University of Kansas Hospital plans to add four floors to the Cambridge North Patient Tower now under construction just northeast of the hospital complex in Kansas City, Kan.
The tower was originally conceived as a seven-story building with 92 beds and 12 operating rooms expected to be completed in 2017. In a statement, Bob Page, KU Hospital’s president and CEO, said that when the new floors are completed in 2018, one floor with 32 beds will be ready for immediate patient occupancy. The other three will be finished as future demand dictates.
The expansion will add $50 million to the original $270 million tab for the building, which is at 39th and Cambridge streets. The hospital, however, said it will not up the ante on the $100 million it’s seeking in private philanthropic money to help foot the bill.
So far, it said, private donors have pledged more than $42 million.
The building will house two of the hospital’s fastest growing specialties, neurosciences and surgical oncology.
Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team, is based at KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
