WORK ON SOUTHEAST, ST. FRANCIS IMPROVEMENTS ON SCHEDULE

Construction of a front entrance and lobby area at Southeast Missouri Hospital is on schedule, said Richard Meyer, the hospital's assistant administrator said.

"At this point, we may be just a bit ahead of schedule," said Meyer.

The project is the third and final phase of the hospital's five-year expansion plan. The $5.9 million project includes construction of a 20,000-plus square-foot main lobby and exterior courtyard, plus renovation of areas within the hospital and the loading dock area.

"We're very pleased with the progress," Meyer said.

Construction also is under way at St. Francis Medical Center, where a parking garage and medical office building are in the works.

At Southeast, structural steel and floor decking for the addition are both going in, Meyer said.

There was a slight delay when the structural steel could not be manufactured on time, but the work is back on track, he said.

"We do expect to have the building enclosed so we can continue to work right through the winter months," he said. "That should allow us to complete our schedule."

The lobby and renovated interior should be open by summer. The lobby will feature a sit-down restaurant and an expanded gift shop. The old lobby, which was built in the early 1960s, was demolished in April.

The courtyard adjacent to the lobby will feature a fountain and the hospital foundation's Commemorative Brick display.

Visitors will still find a revolving door -- the only one in Cape Girardeau, said hospital officials -- at the new entrance, Meyer said.

The new door will be "much larger than the one that was in the original lobby," he said. The door will be completely wheelchair-accessible.

Several departments will be moving into newly renovated areas of the hospital's interior, including marketing and communications, social services and discharge planning.

Part of the renovated area will dedicated as classroom space. Renovation is also under way on the central services department and the GI lab.

Construction of the three-story parking garage at St. Francis Medical Center is about 50 percent complete, said Jay Wolz, marketing and public-relations specialist for the hospital. The garage will have space for 650 vehicles and is near the planned extension of Silver Springs Road.

Construction of the multistory medical office building will begin after the parking garage is completed, Wolz said. The office building will be about 100 feet east of the hospital's emergency room entrance on a five-acre tract. Construction is scheduled to be completed in early 1996.