The cities of Commerce and Quinlan could be one step closer to obtaining new medical facilities, following action this week by the Hunt Memorial Hospital District Board.
The board is scheduled Tuesday to approve the purchase of land for a free standing emergency department in Commerce, and to also consider the approval of architectural and engineering services for both the Commerce and Quinlan free standing emergency medical departments.
Both facilities, approved by voters earlier this month, are the subject of votes during the meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Homer Horton Jr. board room on the sixth floor of the Hunt Regional Medical Center, 4215 Joe Ramsey Boulevard.
Local voters on Nov. 5 approved more than $12 million in bonds for the district, toward paying for three major capital improvement projects; one each in Greenville, Commerce and Quinlan.
Commerce is to receive a $5 million outpatient facility, with a slightly smaller facility, expected to cost $4.5 million, added to the current medical pavilion in Quinlan.
The Commerce facility will be approximately 19,000 square feet and will include five emergency beds, one trauma bed, four observation rooms and a helipad. Construction on the facility would begin in late spring or early summer of 2014 with a construction time of eight months.
The board is looking at three different parcels of land south of Whitley Residence Hall and the Commerce Walmart along Highway 24/50.
The new facility would open the same day as the old Commerce facility on 2900 Sterling Hart Drive closes to provide continuous service.
Quinlan’s facility would cover approximately 15,600 square feet, would be added on to the current medical pavilion along Highway 276.
Construction would begin three to four months after construction starts on the Commerce facility.