(press release provided by Tanner Health System)

Tanner Health is taking bold moves to improve access to care across the region.

Work has begun on a new patient tower at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton. The almost 97,000-square-foot expansion will add 50 beds to the hospital.

“This project is going to give us the capacity we need to keep caring for our growing community,” said Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner. “It’s going to help us make sure that patients aren’t waiting for beds in the emergency department and give our providers more options if they’re caring for someone who needs to be admitted.”

The project marks the most significant expansion to the hospital since it opened a new emergency department and surgery center in 2013.

The three-story tower will be built atop the emergency department, near the corner of Clinic Avenue and Ambulance Drive.

“This expansion is part of a campus master plan we developed to meet the growing needs of our community for years to come,” said Howard. “We built the emergency department with the intent of adding floors above as the need arose.”

During the 24-month project, traffic on Ambulance Drive will be disrupted. Drop-off access to the emergency department will only be accessible on Ambulance Drive from Clinic Avenue. Ambulance/EMS service access will be available on Ambulance Drive from Dixie Street and Professional Place.

Tanner has expanded its free valet service to ensure patients and visitors have easy access to the facility, adding 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week valet to the emergency department entrance.

Tanner has also expanded free valet to the West Georgia Specialty Center across Ambulance Drive from the emergency department. Free valet service remains at the John Burson III, MD, Atrium and Tanner Health Pavilion along Dixie Street, as well as at the Outpatient and Short Stay entrance on Clinic Avenue.

Along with traffic and parking, visitor access to the facility will change.

Access through the John H. Burson III, MD, Atrium along Dixie Street has been extended to 9 p.m. After 9 p.m., visitors should enter through the Clinic Avenue Parking Deck. Elevators can take visitors to the ground floor where Tanner Security can provide access.

“We’ll be able to deliver our patients a better level of care and comfort,” said Howard. “This project is all about expanding access and making sure we’re able to keep delivering the acute clinical care our patients need in an environment designed for healing.”

Along with the tower, the project will renovate several existing patient rooms. Construction will also include a 16,000-square-foot central energy plant to provide heating, cooling and emergency power to the hospital.

The healthcare organization has launched a website to keep patients, visitors and staff updated on the project and to hear feedback at tanner.org/construction.