TIFTON — The Tift County Hospital Authority officially approved J.E. Dunn and Jones Construction as contract managers for the new $152 million patient tower at its June meeting.

When the project was initially approved in February, it was budgeted for $150 million.

The tower will expand the physical facility of Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC), including new inpatient units and a new emergency center.

Approximately 60 percent of the financing will be through a USDA rural development loan; the remaining 40 percent will be funded through internal reserves, according to a press release.

TRHS President/CEO Chris Dorman said in a press release earlier this year that the new expansion is needed to address challenges the hospital is facing in meeting patient demand.

The new emergency room is expected to serve a larger volume of patients and decrease wait times.

The new building will connect to the current TRMC facility and shift the main entrance to face 18th Street.

The June 1 implementation of new Cerner Millennium electronic health record software led to extended waits in the emergency room.

“During the week of ‘go live’…we had six and seven hour wait times in the ER,” said Dorman. “And that week, the ER volume spiked up higher than typical June. The next week, it [the volume] went back to normal.”

Board members approved a remodeling project for the OB and Mother/Baby patient rooms.

The $187,757 remodeling would replace cabinets and shower pans as well as paint the rooms and recoat the bathroom tiles.