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Lakeland Launches $160M Pavilion Project

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It was somehow fitting that the speakers rostrum for a major hospital groundbreaking sat in the middle of the emergency room heli-pad inasmuch as the night concluded with the project officially taking flight for a new five story surgical suite and more.

New mom Coty Sandberg was pregnant in May of 2015 when she became the Lead Architectural Designer for Lakeland Health's new $160-million pavilion project, and tonight she talked about both her new baby and the infancy of the ambitious new project for which they broke ground this evening in St. Joseph. 

Lakeland officials enjoyed a cool breeze as they tossed ceremonial shovels full of dirt skyward for the 260,000 square foot construction project which Sandberg described as "the aspirational vision of the leadership at Lakeland Health." She told the crowd gathered for the event, "It's our responsibility as your design team to capture the spirit of the family, the warmth, the welcomeness your all exhibit to your patients every day into your new facility." She added, "We are orchestrating an experience that seeks to lift the human spirit, particularly in the public spaces. A new thoroughfare, symbolizing the movement and the inference of a river, will connect all of the public amenities and destinations on the campus." She foretold of "Openness, intuitive way-finding, extensive planting indoors and out, and transparency and brightness and a variety of spaces catering to personal choice" as being among a handful of the attributes that will welcome patients and their families into a natural environment."

Lakeland Health CEO, Dr. Loren Hamel, voiced gratitude for the "forward thinking, strategic and courageous and compassionate board members" who helped bring the project to this stage. He also thanked the Hanson family for their announced $1.5-million donation to the Hanson Heart Center to be housed in the new pavilion as well as many other donors who are stepping up to help make the tower a reality. 

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Hamel  says, "This new pavilion is going to help assure that, in fact, in our community we do have a world class facility that is able to attract world-class talent and ultimately to deliver world-class care." 

Congressman Fred Upton's emissary, Mike Ryan, told the audience, "Fred and his family have been huge supporters of the health care system over the years," adding, "Not only will this provide tremendous economic benefits, and provide new jobs, but more importantly it will save lives."

Board Chair Dan Hopp welcomed the crowd, saying "I'd like to acknowledge the many hospital and community leaders who served Lakeland through past generations," noting, "The wise decisions and stewardship by that group has assured that Lakeland can launch such an ambitious project today."

Dr. Kenneth Edwards is Medical Director of Surgical Services for Lakeland Health. He called it a privilege to represent the talented physicians of Lakeland and cited the evolution of health care in the region in his 22 years as being remarkable. He said, "On my first day working at Lakeland, I got called to Berrien General Hospital to operate on someone, and 23 years later, I'm doing total hips and total knees on computer navigation in state-of-the-art suites." However, he says, "The emerging transparency in quality reporting shows that Lakeland already excels in many surgical specialties such as general surgery, robotics, urology, orthopedics and cardio-vascular services and this new facility represents Lakeland's continuing commitment to delivering the best of class health care in addition to providing state of the art surgical suites and imaging centers that will really help us continue to recruit the top talent that will be required in the ongoing quality endeavors of the 21st Century." 

Dr. Edwards concluded, "I can assure you that the focus of this entire endeavor will be to provide your friends and your family with a care experience that maximizes comfort, and reflects our continuing commitment to perfect care."

Following the ceremonial groundbreaking, the project is getting underway and is due for completion in 2020. To read the previous story detailing the project, complete with links to a video fly-through of the pavilion and other improvements, click the link below:

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