In an effort to meet the growing healthcare needs of the region, Tift Regional Medical Center is expanding its services through two new construction projects.

The first is a new home for WorkSmart Occupational Medicine expected to open in November. WorkSmart is currently located at the corner of 20th Street and Lee Avenue and the facility has limited parking. Hospital officials said the new location on Union Road, near the Target distribution center, will provide additional parking in an area with less traffic. The new 10,000-square-foot building will also provide enhanced services.

“The expanded facility will provide additional treatment rooms,” said Carla Hall, director of Occupational Medicine at WorkSmart. “There will also be more drug-screening rooms for increased patient volume and privacy.”

Hall said the facility will also offer expanded in-house X-ray capabilities and new on-site physical therapy options to help patients with workers’ compensation injuries.

The cost for the project is $1.7 million.

The second project is a new intensive care unit at the hospital. Construction for the new ICU is scheduled for completion in early 2007. When complete, the ICU will feature 20 beds with state-of-the-art technology.

“The most prominent feature in the patient rooms is an equipment-storage system using automated arms that will keep equipment away from the patient and create additional space in the room,” said Angelia Reeder, ICU Nurse Manager at TRMC. “This increased space will be more convenient for both patients and medical staff.”

Sarah Thompson, TRMC’s vice president of operations, said that construction of the new ICU is expected to begin in mid-May and take approximately one year to complete. The new ICU will be located on top of the heart center on the 20th Street side of the hospital. Thompson said the current 14-bed ICU will be relocated to the new space, which will have 20 beds.

Thompson said the new ICU will have 37,510 square feet of new space and 4,430 square feet of renovated space. In construction, renovation and equipment, the new ICU will cost $15.1 million.