Baton Rouge General Plans Micro Hospital

The 60,000 square-foot 'neighborhood hospital' located southeast of Baton Rouge in Prairieville, LA will include 10 inpatient beds, a 14-bed ER, a lab, and physicians’ offices.

Baton Rouge General on Tuesday announced plans to build a neighborhood hospital in Prairieville, La. 

The $30 million project is now in the design phase, with groundbreaking expected for early 2018 and opening planned for 2019. When completed, the 60,000 square foot hospital will include 10 inpatient beds, a 14-bed emergency department, a lab, physician practices and office space.

Ascension Parish, where Prairieville is located, has seen its population increase by 13% since 2010. Census estimates predict an additional 40% growth by 2025. Last year, more than 22,000 patients from Ascension Parish came to Baton Rouge General for care, the health system said.

“Our new neighborhood hospital will make it more convenient for Ascension Parish families to get the care they trust closer to home," BRG President and CEO Edgardo Tenreiro said in a media release. "The smaller campus will make navigating the hospital faster and easier, while the BRG name means patients will receive the same safe and high-quality care they receive at our other facilities.”

When the doors open, the hospital will provide care 24 hours a day and will treat conditions including chest pain and heart attacks, broken bones, stroke, abdominal pain, burns, seizures, dehydration, and allergic reactions.  

Baton Rouge General’s Bluebonnet campus serves as the critical care hub for General Health System’s two hospital campuses and 20 clinics. The Mid City campus has shifted its focus to post-acute care, offering behavioral health services, skilled nursing and rehab in the heart of Baton Rouge.

Some analysist believe that micro-hospitals are on the cusp of becoming more popular because they can come on-line much quicker than full-service hospitals, they can expand a health system’s footprint with a smaller investment, and they have comparatively low overhead.