One of the region's largest hospitals will begin a nearly $17M renovation

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center will soon begin a $16.5 million renovation on its main campus to relocate, expand and overhaul its intensive care unit devoted to neurology patients.

The project, which should be completed by next fall, is the first of multiple renovations at Wake Forest Baptist's expansive Winston-Salem campus.

"We know we need to modernize our ICUs and expand our capacity there, and there are other areas where we have some challenges and things we want to try to do," said Lynn Pitman, associate vice president for strategic and business planning for Wake Forest Baptist. "There's a lot of activity."

Future projects are still in the planning stages and details aren't being released right now, officials said.

The medical center has received state approval to move forward with the neuro-ICU project, which involves relocating it from the North Tower to the fifth floor of Ardmore Tower.

Currently, that ICU is a ward unit with no private rooms and nowhere for family members to stay with a patient.

The 11-bed unit is operating at capacity, with neuro-ICU patients having to be placed in other areas due to high volumes, Pitman said. Wake Forest Baptist is a comprehensive stroke center and has been growing the number of hospitals in its network that refer stroke patients, as well as recruiting neurologists and neurosurgeons, she said.

"Because of the growth of these services over the last couple of years, their average daily census has grown to about 20 patients a day," Pitman said.

The unit will become a 24-bed unit with private rooms using about 33,000 square feet.

About $9.2 million of the project cost will go toward construction, with critical care areas such as intensive care units carrying a higher cost because of the complexity of the space and additional required capabilities, Pitman said.

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