Hospital expansion work starts

Lafayette General Medical Center broke ground Monday on its $52.5 million expansion and renovation of its emergency and surgical departments. The project will be constructed atop the hospital’s visitor parking area and includes a six-story, 340 space parking structure. The project will increase capacity in the emergency department from 31 beds to 45 and add a trauma elevator with direct access from the hospital’s helipad to its emergency department and surgical suites. The new surgery area will provide 13 larger, state-of-the-art operating rooms. During construction, free valet parking will be available to visitors at the front lobby entrance off of Coolidge Street, and visitor parking will be moved to the Burdin Riehl parking garage across from the main hospital building, also on Coolidge Street. Construction is expected to be complete by summer 2014.