After several years of setbacks and delays, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. should begin construction this summer on the Arlington ER facility. It will be located near the Interstate 40 and the Arlington exit.
The freestanding location, developed in partnership with Regional One Health, will feature eight patient rooms; CT scan, X-ray and ultrasound imaging technology; physician offices and a helipad. Construction should take about a year with the tentative opening date for completion by April 2022.
“As we think about April 2022, we’re very hopeful that this will come online right at a right time, as we’re administering (COVID) vaccine and taking precautions,” said Zach Chandler, Baptist executive vice president and chief strategy officer, expressing optimism that life could return to normal at that time.
Originally, Baptist submitted a certificate of need application for the Arlington ER department in May 2017. However, it was denied along with a competing request from Saint Francis Hospital. In March 2019, the state granted Baptist’s appeal of the decision. However, legal and state review steps were completed last fall.
“Going through this process for the past four to five years, with the trips that we took to Nashville and the meetings with Baptist, it’s been an eye-opening experience with the state’s certificate of need process. But it’s also been one that’s going to be very rewarding for the community,” said Arlington Mayor Mike Wissman.
Over the next several months, the town’s various development-related boards will review the site plan before the project eventually is considered by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Physician offices, including primary care and specialists, are being added to the original plans for a 13,000-square-foot building. This will bring the new project to 35,000 square feet. In conclusion, the project was estimated at $10 million in 2019, and Chandler expects that estimate to increase. He is unsure of the total cost now.
To learn more about the proposed plans, visit: https://dailymemphian.com/section/suburbs/article/19789/baptist-eyes-summer-construction-start-for-arlington-emergency-room