Capital Region Medical Center's commitment to health care is contained in its slogan - "Better. Every day." - but today marks a special day for the hospital.
At 3 p.m. the medical center will host an open house and public tours of its 115,000-square-foot expansion, a $37 million project three years in the making.
The challenge to become "better" involves a number of components, including greater cohesion, coordination, accessibility, convenience and more.
Jim Wisch, chairman of the board for Capital Region Medical Center (CRMC), said the expansion embraced all these factors, while reflecting the board's commitment to the community and the national trend toward outpatient services.
"Our goal was to create one-stop service," Wisch said, "combining patient care, exceptional quality and controlled cost. The contractors followed the board's marching orders, and 83 percent of the project was done by local contractors."
Both Wisch and Gaspare Calvaruso, CRMC president, discussed the increasing emphasis on outpatient services.
"If you look at our business five to six years ago," Calvaruso said, "it was predominantly inpatient services. Now, 70 percent of our business is outpatient and it's continuing to go that way. ... We feel like this is the right investment for our community."
And Kathy Steinmeyer, a CRMC administrator who is coordinating the transition, said the expansion is designed "to have all of these convenient services in one location. The patient will be experiencing a clinic visit and an outpatient visit seamless to them."
To that end, a number of patient services - including blood work, ultrasound, mammograms and X-rays - will be relocated to save time and improve efficiency. And some physicians' offices now scattered throughout the community will move to the expanded facility.
Wisch also pointed out Capital Region's association with University of Missouri Health Care System and other hospitals in the state enhances the network of medical resources and services available for patients.
Although the public will have an opportunity to tour the expansion today, the transition will continue through mid-December.
A continuing emphasis on patient care, convenience and connectivity with physicians is blueprint for becoming better, every day.