By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

EDGEWOOD - Northern Kentucky's fourth-largest employer is expanding.

St. Elizabeth Medical Center's South Unit in Edgewood will mark its 25th anniversary with the "topping out" of a 300,000-square-foot expansion this afternoon.A symbolic final beam signed by people who worked on the project will be hoisted to the top of the structure by a crane outside the patient entrance. An evergreen and an American flag will be placed atop the beam.

"This expansion is all about the future," said Gary Toebben, president of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. "It's positioning St. Elizabeth to meet the health care needs of a growing population and an aging population."

The $61 million project will make the hospital's emergency department 40 percent larger by next year, said Karla Webb, St. Elizabeth spokeswoman. A new entrance to that department should be finished by the end of the year, and an eight-story patient tower will be occupied by 2005.

The new tower will increase the capacity of cardiology and radiology services. It will include a dedicated observation bed unit, a larger cardiac surgery recovery and family waiting area and a 24-bed inpatient unit with nearby physician on-call rooms.

Construction also is proceeding on an $11.5 million outpatient center for orthopedic and general eye surgeries. The freestanding building is scheduled to open by mid-February. Both projects are to address Northern Kentucky's growing health care needs for the next five to seven years, Webb said. A bond issue and income from operations will fund both projects.

"I'm one of the early baby boomers," Toebben said. "There are lots of us who are moving into that time of our lives where we're using more health care services."

In Northern Kentucky, there are 57,000 people 60 and older, and they face waiting lists for every senior service, said Donna Oehler, vice president of Senior Services of Northern Kentucky Inc. In 20 years, that population will double.

Northern Kentucky's overall population is expected to grow 18.5 percent from 2000 to 2010.

"It certainly is an asset to have a hospital of the magnitude of St. Elizabeth in your community," said Edgewood Administrator Roger Rolfes. "That's especially important at times when minutes and seconds count."

With 3,000 employees at its facilities in Edgewood, Covington and Williamstown, St. Elizabeth Medical Center is Northern Kentucky's fourth largest employer. The medical center ranks behind Delta/Comair, the Internal Revenue Service and Fidelity.

While St. Elizabeth is exempt from paying property taxes because of its non-profit status, the city will realize payroll taxes from the construction crews and new hospital employees, Rolfes said. That money will be helpful as Edgewood builds a new city building next spring 2004 that will more than double space for police, fire and administrative offices.

"We're very pleased that St. Elizabeth's expanding,'' Rolfes said. He said the major construction projects will help Edgewood pay for its new city building without a tax increase.

Milestones at St. Elizabeth Medical Center South

•  Opened Oct. 10, 1978 on a 260-acre site in Edgewood. Eight patients were admitted and 13 were treated in the emergency department that day.

•  In 25 years, there have been 550,000 admissions, 3.3 million outpatient visits, and 1.2 million emergency department visits.

•  It was 273,500 square feet in 1978; it is 662,000 square feet now and it will be 962,000 square feet in 2005.

•  A 1986 expansion doubled the size of the emergency department and doubled the number of critical care beds.

•  Since 1986, about 50,000 live births have occurred at The Family Birth Place, St. Elizabeth's obstetric service.

•  Northern Kentucky's first cardiac catherization was performed at St. Elizabeth in 1981 and the open heart surgery program began in 1984. • The nationally-recognized cardiac program has been ranked No. 1 in the Tristate by Health Grades for four consecutive years.

•  In 1994, a new patient entrance and Ambulatory Care Center improved convenience and access for tens of thousands of patients each year.

•  In 2003, St. Elizabeth Medical Center, with sites in Covington, Edgewood and Williamstown, was named a Distinguished Hospital for Service Excellence by J.D. Power and Associates and a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence by Health Grades, placing it among a select group of hospitals in the country.

Source: St. Elizabeth Medical Center

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E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com