TEMPLE, Texas — Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple celebrated the completion of its new Grobowsky Surgical Center with a ribbon-cutting event, spokesperson Deke Jones said.
The three-story, 147,000 square-foot facility is scheduled to open in April and will expand the hospital's ability to provide complex surgical procedures for patients, a press release said.
Some of the new features include:
• A convenient entrance for surgery patients and their loved ones
• 10 additional, larger surgical suites
• 48 private day surgery rooms
• 54-bed post-anesthesia care unit
• A new waiting area
• High-tech instrument processing to support advanced procedures
The new facility will treat patients involved in traumatic events, since the hospital in Temple is the only level one trauma center between Austin and Dallas, according to Jones.
Robotics and real-time imaging will be used to perform complicated heart and neurosurgical procedures at the roomy facility, Jones said.
The hospital's department of surgery chairman, Harry Papaconstantinou, said the new facility will modernize Baylor Scott & White.
“We have an uncompromising, strong commitment to patient safety and quality care, and this new surgical center is an investment in this commitment,” he said.
The Grubowsky Surgical Center suites are larger to make room for equipment like intraoperative diagnostics and other new devices, Jones said.
“We have built this new facility to anticipate future surgical advancements,” Scott & White Clinic Board chairman Tim Bittenbinder said. “More space is available in each suite to both accommodate and integrate technology into the operating rooms, making surgeries increasingly safer for our patients while facilitating increasingly complex surgical procedures.”
Hospital leaders said they hope the new facility will attract highly skilled physicians who can bring innovative procedures to Temple. They also said they aim to make Central Texas a destination for patients outside the region who need complex surgical care.