Earlier this week the St. Tammany Health System Board of Commissioners and executive team broke ground on a $75 million same-day surgical center adjacent to the existing Paul D. Cordes Outpatient Pavilion at 16300 Louisiana 1085 (Bootlegger Road) south of Covington.
The building is expected to be complete and ready for patients by late summer 2024.
St. Tammany Health System President and CEO Joan Coffman said the complete project will stand as another fulfillment of a promise to deliver world-class healthcare close to home for residents of west St. Tammany Parish.
Announced in October 2021, the new surgery center will mark the fulfillment of a strategic goal of the health system as recent advancements in technology and recruitment of highly skilled specialists have increased the volume of surgeries that can be accomplished in a 23-hour stay.
Also among those in attendance Wednesday were developers Patrick McMath and Jared Riecke; Keith Barre, Keiran Weldon and Becky Parks of design firm fl+WB; as well as representatives of St. Tammany Health System partner Ochsner Health.
In addition to its 12 surgery suites, the new facility will host supporting departments and services including pre-operative and post-operative care, overnight stay beds, surgical sterilization, imaging, lab, pharmacy, rehabilitation, food service, environmental and other services.
It is the latest in a string of recent expansions for St. Tammany Health System, coming on the heels of completion of a new four-story patient tower on its main hospital campus in April 2021, as well as completion in June 2021 of the new St. Tammany Cancer Center, a campus of Ochsner Medical Center, at Louisiana 21 and Interstate 12.
