SBRMC has new name (Baldwin Health) and new 5-story facility

SBRMC has new name (Baldwin Health) and new 5-story facility

South Baldwin Regional Medical Center has a new name and a new five-story facility to serve patients in the Foley area. The 185,000-plus square-foot tower has been under construction for more than a year. The $250-million expansion will increase the hospital’s capacity and provide additional services. The addition includes new surgical facilities with a dedicated outpatient surgery center and space to care for twice the number of high-acuity patients in intensive care. The wing also has a dedicated women’s and children’s unit and additional inpatient beds to accommodate more patients. “We are no longer just South Baldwin Regional Medical Center,” said Dr. Margaret Roley, hospital administrator. “Thanks to all of the folks that came before us and who continue to work with us, we’ve laid a foundation of an incredibly successful health system, and I think that you will see that our five-star service will remain the same. “Bricks and mortar, as I say all the time, are pieces of the puzzle, but the glue that holds it together is the employees and the medical staff that provide this care to the community,” she added. Clark Stewart, chairman of the South Baldwin Health Care Authority, said community support has always been a key element of the success of the hospital. The hospital began with the donation of the property on which the initial building was constructed in 1958. Community members worked to raise $75,000 to help start the project. In 2000, authority board members voted to enter a partnership with Community Health Systems to operate the hospital. Stewart said that partnership has been a key to the growth of the hospital and health care services in Foley. “We wouldn’t be celebrating this day without the longtime partnership with Community Health Systems,” Stewart said. “They’ve been just an incredible partner that spanned almost a quarter of a century now. We’re in our 24th year of that relationship, and looking forward to many, many more.” Drew Mason, CHS region president, said the new addition will offer expanded services to the area. “This is going to be an advanced community hospital that’s already spreading its wings through a vastly growing Baldwin County,” Mason said. “We are going big already. Now, we’re going to continue to do that with you and your county.”