FOLEY – South Baldwin Regional Medical Center has a new name and a new five-story facility to serve patients in the Foley area.
Hospital representatives unveiled the new name, Baldwin Health, to mark the completion of the tower that has been under construction for more than a year.
“Today is just a day that I think we’re all going to have in our memory for a very long time. We are so excited to be able to unveil our new 185,000-plus square-foot-facility on our campus,” Dr. Margaret Roley, hospital administrator, said Tuesday, Oct. 15.
She said the hospital will begin moving patients into the new wing on Saturday and will be open for additional services on Oct. 28. The $250-million expansion will increase the hospital’s capacity and provide additional services.
The addition includes new surgical facilities with a dedicated outpatient surgery center and space to care for twice the number of high-acuity patients in intensive care. The wing also has a dedicated women’s and children’s unit and additional inpatient beds to accommodate more patients.
Roley said Baldwin Health is expanding its services as Foley and the area grows.
“We are no longer just South Baldwin Regional Medical Center,” Roley said. “Thanks to all of the folks that came before us and who continue to work with us, we’ve laid a foundation of an incredibly successful health system, and I think that you will see as we change our brand and that our same reputation, our five-star service, will remain the same.”
During opening ceremonies, Roley recognized city officials from Foley and surrounding communities.
Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich said that while the hospital is in Foley, the expanded facility is a major benefit for all of South Baldwin County.
“This is Baldwins Hospital,” Hellmich said. “My fellow mayors to the south and I agree. It’s not Foley s hospital. ” It’s our hospital.”
Roley also thanked the hospital staff who had helped make the expansion possible.
“Bricks and mortar, as I say all the time, are pieces of the puzzle, but the glue that holds it together is the employees and the medical staff that provide this care to the community,” she said.
Clark Stewart, chairman of the South Baldwin Health Care Authority, said community support has always been a key element of the success of the hospital. The hospital began with the donation of the property on which the initial building was constructed in 1958. Community members worked to raise $75,000 to help start the project.
In 2000, authority board members voted to enter a partnership with Community Health Systems to operate the hospital. Stewart said that partnership has been a key to the growth of the hospital and health care services in Foley.
“We wouldn’t be celebrating this day without the longtime partnership with Community Health Systems,” Stewart said. “They’ve been just an incredible partner that spanned almost a quarter of a century now. We’re in our 24th year of that relationship, and looking forward to many, many more.”
Drew Mason, CHS region president, said the new addition will offer expanded services to the area.
“This is going to be an advanced community hospital that’s already spreading its wings through a vastly growing Baldwin County,” Mason said. “We are going big already. Now, we’re going to continue to do that with you and your county. We’re going to continue to invest in this market, and it all comes down to relationships and the trust and confidence with our Healthcare Authority and all the leaders who have such an incredible involvement in this journey.”