Administrators broke ground June 3 on a $40 million expansion of the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute at 1100 Virginia Ave.
The growing need for orthopaedic surgery in Missouri drove the expansion. In 2010, during the first year of the institute, approximately 4,000 surgeries were performed. In 2014, the number rose to about 4,700, and demand continues to increase.
“Because the demand for orthopaedic surgical services has grown so rapidly, we need to expand so that we can maintain an optimum healing environment for the patients we serve,” said James Stannard, the J. Vernon Luck Sr. Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the School of Medicine and medical director of the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute.
Also speaking at the groundbreaking were MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin; Patrick Delafontaine, dean of the MU School of Medicine; and Mitch Wasden, chief operating officer and chief executive officer for MU Health Care.
Loftin and Delafontaine said that top orthopaedic surgeons across the country have joined the institute because of its clinical, research and educational missions, raising the number of physicians from 20 to 34. The institute, the largest and most comprehensive freestanding orthopaedic care center in central Missouri, “demonstrates our commitment to the health of Missourians,” Loftin said.
The four-story, 85,462-square-foot expansion is expected to be finished in 2017. It will increase clinical space for surgical, inpatient, outpatient and physical therapy services from approximately 114,000 square feet to almost 200,000 square feet. The fourth floor will be dedicated wholly to research.
Among the additions are:
· Five operating rooms, bringing the total number to 12
· 22 private inpatient rooms, bringing the total number to 42
· Three digital X-ray rooms, for a total of seven
· 19 outpatient examination rooms, for a total of about 70 exam rooms
The expansion will also include a larger restaurant for patients and visitors and a coffee kiosk at the main entrance, which will be relocated from the north side to the east side of the building.
The Missouri Orthopaedic Institute specializes in sports medicine, joint replacement and pediatrics. Providers care for knees, feet, ankles, shoulders, hands, the spine, oncology and trauma.