ORMC breaks ground on primary care facility

A new Odessa Regional Medical Center healthcare facility will soon bring primary care, diagnostic and laboratory services to east Odessa. The facility, to be called Odessa Regional Primary Care and Diagnostic Center, will be located on Eastridge Road just east of Billy Hext Road. A June opening is planned for the $3.2 million facility, which recently held its groundbreaking ceremony.
 "Clearly the community is growing in this direction," said Dr. Anne Acreman, who will relocate her office to the 7500-square-foot facility. "The new facility with extended workday and Saturday hours will take some of the stress off emergency rooms."   In addition to hospital administrators, the groundbreaking ceremony was attended by local officials. Odessa Chamber of Commerce CEO Mike George cited statistics that show how important ORMC is to the community. He noted that ORMC has 775 employees and a $44.5 million payroll, much of which goes back into the community. He added that ORMC pays an estimated $1.2 million in property taxes and provides about $1.5 million in charity care each year.
   "The new facility will provide easy access to primary care for the northeastern population of Odessa and to Midland," George said.
 Sandra McRee, president and chief operating officer of ORMC's parent company IASIS Healthcare, said she is proud of the work ORMC is doing in the Permian Basin, and the new facility is a testament to its contributions.
   ORMC, which opened as Women's and Children's Hospital in 1975, now has 230 beds. The Odessa Regional Primary Care and Diagnostic Center is the latest in a series of additions and improvements for ORMC.
   An expansion of the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit increased that unit's bed total from 25 to 33. The expansion opened in December.
 This year an enclosed bridge opened connecting ORMC's west campus with the east campus. The east campus is the former Alliance Hospital, which IASIS purchased in 2007. The connecting bridge allows both campuses easier access to needed equipment.
 "There are always three things you can depend on in West Texas," McRee said. "You can depend on the wind, you can depend on football, and you can depend on the same great quality of care at ORMC."