The original hospital tower at AdventHealth’s Shawnee Mission campus in Merriam is halfway through a $30 million renovation that is updating windows, creating more space for beds, and generally putting a fresh coat of paint on the facility.
Renovation work on the tower, built in 1972 and in the center of the main building at 9100 W. 74th St., began early last year, and the first phase wrapped up early this week after widening the windows of two floors through five and updating its interior. The hospital now has 485 patient beds but will have 504 once construction ends.
When the tower opened, it used only the first two floors and since it has grown to function on all six floors with roughly 20 beds per unit.
Nursing Director Celina Huffman said AdventHealth Shawnee Mission wanted the renovations to the original hospital tower to create cohesion between it and the $114 million tower built in 2008 that added roughly 265,000 square feet, including a new emergency department, surgery floor, intensive care unit, cardiac care unit and main entrance.
Although there have been a few updates throughout the years, such as adding more floors, changing the lighting, etc., this round of renovations has been the tower’s first comprehensive update. By putting larger windows in patient rooms, updating nursing stations and adding beds, it aligns the tower’s exterior and interior with the second tower.
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