CHARLESTON, S.C. - A 156-bed facility spanning 641,000 square feet and including nine operating rooms and state-of-the-art endoscopy suites to treat individuals with cardiovascular and digestive disease ailments is part of the Medical University of South Carolina's master plan to upgrade its downtown Charleston campus and meet the needs of an aging population.

MUSC will unveil its new $275 million facility, Ashley River Tower, during a dedication ceremony to be held at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 12, in Charleston. Tommy Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, will serve as keynote speaker. Tours of the facility will be offered after the ceremony.

Ashley River Tower, which includes a four-story diagnostic and treatment building, seven-story patient tower and garden conservatory connecting the two buildings and central energy plant, is the first phase of a 20-year master plan that MUSC has initiated.

MUSC will ultim

ately replace the facility that has served as its teaching hospital for 50 years as part of its multi-phase expansion plan. The new Ashley River Tower hospital facility will officially open in January 2008.

Along with 32 ICU beds, interventional radiology laboratories, imaging suites, outpatient clinic space, an around-the-clock chest pain center and a division specializing in surgery for gastrointestinal cancers are also included in the facility.

"MUSC Ashley River Tower was developed for several reasons, first and foremost to accommodate the needs of an aging and growing population in South Carolina," MUSC President Dr. Raymond S. Greenberg said. "This cutting-edge hospital represents the future of medical care and will lead the way in providing the latest technology in a healing environment."

Spacious private rooms with family day space, wireless Internet access, family lounges on each floor and an exterior design made primarily of glass to give patients access to natural light are among the hospital's features designed to create quality care in a comforting environment.

The first health care facility in the nation to meet international hurricane and seismic building codes, Ashley River Tower has specialty twisted glass that has been tested to withstand 225 mile-per-hour winds and flying debris. The facility can also sway eight inches in both directions during an earthquake.

A 20,000-gallon water tank for firefighters to safeguard against water loss during an earthquake and a storm lift station, which can pump water to a nearby river to maintain access during severe weather, are among the facility's other amenities.

A new electronic medical records system, serving as the single source for all patient-related information, helps to improve and ensure patient safety. The design of the environmentally friendly facility also includes corain, which coats operating room walls and counter tops throughout the hospital. The material is ce.jpgied by the Greenguard Environmental Institute, providing a complete surfacing system that has been proven to release few, if any, breathable compounds to ensure safer air and an odor-free hospital.

"The design of this building represents the collaboration and expertise of hundreds of physicians, nurses and caregivers, hospital leadership and patients ... . We've created an environment which applies a new understanding of what constitutes superior health care," said Dr. Patrick J. Cawley, MUSC executive medical director. For more information on Ashley River Tower or its dedication ceremony, visit www.muschealth.com/ashleyrivertower.

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T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheT

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