Two phases done of five-phase medical project

Business Today

POPLAR BLUFF -- Plans to build a new 50-bed hospital in Poplar Bluff are moving along, but there is still no definite time frame as to when construction might actually begin.

Poplar Bluff Medical Partners' five-phase plan, which includes building a 90,000-square-foot office building and a 50-bed in-patient facility at PBMP's medical park on PP Highway, was laid out by PBMP representatives to local civic leaders and members of the business community in late July.

PBMP, a group of 39 physicians partnered with Saint Francis Healthcare System, began the project in January 2002.

Since then, the first two phases of their plan have been completed -- a new diagnostic imaging center and a cardiac catheterization lab. The third phase, an ambulatory or out-patient surgery center, is scheduled to open this fall. The fourth and fifth phases, the office building and in-patient facility, are still in the planning stages.

"A lot of what we've been doing isn't necessarily dragging our feet," said Mike Caldwell, MD and PBMP member. "There are a lot of hurdles to overcome before we get to the end of the fifth phase, and we are working towards that as best we can."

Caldwell said one of those hurdles is the certificate of need (CON) process, a state requirement for new hospitals aimed at preventing the duplication of services.

"Applying for a certificate of need is a costly process. I'm talking about a quarter of a million dollars or more - maybe twice that. You take the chance when you go before an appointed board and present your data," Caldwell said.

Caldwell also mentioned that the Federal Trade Commission is currently looking at how the recent merger of Lucy Lee Hospital and Doctors Regional Medical Center affected the health care market in Poplar Bluff.

According to Caldwell, PBMP will focus on the CON process after construction begins on the fourth phase of the project -- the 90,000 square-foot office building.

That part of the PBMP plan is still in the "architectural drawing phase," said PBMP President and CEO Jeffery Bush. He expects construction for that to begin in the summer of 2004.