Dosher Memorial Hospital has started a multi-million dollar renovation project.

Officials held a groundbreaking ceremony April 17 for the Southport hospital’s new J. Arthur Dosher inpatient care facility.

The facility will feature 25 private medical and surgical inpatient rooms, “offering a higher level of privacy, technology, security and comfort for our patients and their families,” said hospital spokesman Kirk Singer.

The project is expected to take about 13 months to complete, officials said.

The $11.2 million renovation project began recently with the arrival of a small fleet of moving vans from Premium Moving. One of Dosher’s two inpatient wings, “A” Wing, was vacated, and patients were located to the hospital’s other wing.
Patient room furniture and beds were dismantled, Singer said.

The hospital’s patient care unit lobby and gift shop were also closed for construction.

Beds, furniture, artwork and fixtures were packaged and prepared for storage before being loaded into the vans. Several hospital offices were relocated to temporary modular offices for the duration of the project, Singer said.

Plans for the relocation of the patient care unit have been in the works for several years, Tom Siemers, Dosher Hospital president and CEO, said in a news release.

In upcoming weeks, dust- and sound-resistant separation walls will be built to isolate the construction area from Dosher’s second inpatient wing.

Interior walls will be torn down, and reconstruction of the wing will begin.

After the first half of the unit is completed, patient care will be moved into the renovated portion and construction will begin on the second half.

The architect for the hospital renovation is Peterson Associates of Charlotte. Rodgers Builders, also of Charlotte, is serving as construction manager.

Singer said the renovation project was made possible “in large part” due to an $8.5 million low-interest, long-term loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A total of 12,000 square feet of the hospital will be renovated, and an additional 6,000 square feet will be added to the inpatient facility.

“This construction project is long overdue and has been greatly anticipated,” Siemers said. “It will allow us to dramatically enhance the quality of inpatient care we provide to the community we serve.”