Media invited to preview Regions Hospital's new surgery department

State-of-the-art operating area designed to increase patient safety

Sept. 16, 2009

ST.PAUL, Minn. - A 90,000-square-foot Surgery Center featuring 20 sparkling new operating rooms opens Sept. 21 at Regions Hospital, the next phase of the hospital's $179 million expansion.

The new operating rooms have a number of features designed to increase patient safety, including uniform size and orientation -- all are 600 square feet and set up exactly the same. The new section is one and a half times the size of Regions' current surgical services area and includes space for an additional two operating rooms. The area also includes 28 pre- and post-surgery rooms, where patients' surgery preparation begins and where they finish recovering if they're being discharged the same day.

When:	Surgery Center opens Monday, Sept. 21 Move-in begins at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18 Media are welcome from noon Friday until 5 p.m. Sunday Call to schedule a tour
Where:	Regions Hospital 640 Jackson Street, St. Paul

"Our surgeons and staff are very excited about moving to this beautiful and efficient new space," said Dana Langness, Regions senior director of surgical services. "They've worked hard to prepare for the move so we can provide great care for all of our surgical patients."

Regions' expanded emergency department opened in July, The next phase of the expansion opens in October, when patient rooms on floors 6, 7, 8 and 9 will open, each with 36 private rooms. Overall, the million Expansion 2009 project is 11 stories, with 385,000 square feet of new construction. Construction of the project began in November 2006.

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Regions Hospital
Regions Hospital is certified as a Level I Trauma Center for adults and for children serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin for more than 130 years. Regions is part of the HealthPartners family of healthcare companies that serves 1.25 million medical and dental health plan members nationwide. Follow Regions Hospital at twitter.com/RegionsHospital and www.facebook.com/home.php?#/regionshospital.

Contact: 952-883-5308 direct
612-618-1273 cell
651-629-0411 pager