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A red tower crane no longer looms over West Chester Medical Center on Cox Lane, but its cylindrical steel foundation remains nestled next to the 400,000 square-foot building's foundation. Light-colored brick and expansive sheets of glass have given shape to the first new hospital built in the area in 25 years.

Inside the walls of the new Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati facility, there is still much to do.

Public relations and marketing manager Stephanie Savicki said construction is on schedule for a spring 2009 opening. An estimated 300 workers are installing walls, piping and conduit, and up to 450 will be on site when the construction phase reaches its peak this fall.

Once complete, Savicki and director of plant operations Michael

Kuechenmeister said the hospital will serve up to 40,000 patients a year.

"We're looking forward to being action-packed from day one," he said.

Kuechenmeister said the blank slate of the new hospital has allowed planners to make small adjustments to use the latest technology, such as using overhead booms instead of carts to hold operating room equipment and including a decontamination shower near the ambulance emergency entrance.

Savicki said some changes have come about after experimentation in a mock-up patient room at the construction site.

"It's been a laboratory," she said. "(Designers) have made changes based on bringing equipment in and out."

Pre-planning has expanded beyond hospital grounds, she said. Hospital staff is working with Butler County and West Chester Twp. to determine how to best route traffic to the hospital, located near the intersection of Tylersville and Cox roads.

As hospital construction continues through the summer, both Savicki and Kuechenmeister said those in charge of the hospital's fine details will continue to access and make changes where necessary, to ensure the 160 bed facility opens with no surprises.

"I'm trying to figure (these things) out now," said Kuechenmeister, "so we're ready on day one."

For more information on West Chester Medical Center, go to west

chestermedcenter.com.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5127 or mcunningham@coxohio.com.

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