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Hospital expansion played an important part in maintaining con struction activity at a high level in the city during the last year, with the city’s two larger hospitals launching building programs. In the photograph above is shown progress of an addition being con structed to the south of Freeman hospital. The photograph, taken from the hospital roof, shows preparations for pouring the sec ond floor of the planned four-story addition. The Freeman program, which got under way sometime earlier than an expansion program at St. John’s hospital, is expected to cost $1,125,764. On the other hand, ex pansion of St. John's hospital is to cost in excess of $1,000,000, so that the two programs together will account for more than $2,000, 000 in hospital expansion work. Plans are for the addition shown being constructed to house exten sive new facilities. The improve ment program provides for a later surgery area than now exists, with that facility more than doubled. Six operating rooms will be con structed in the new wing, along with a post anaesthesia room. Sur gery facilities will be on the sec ond floor. On the third floor, two delivery rooms, three private labor rooms and two regular nurseries will give the hospital a modern ma ternity section. Fourth floor of the new addition will be devoted to patients suffer ing from chronic illness and will be one of the first such depart ments in any hospital in the Four- State area, according to Paul Detrich, hospital administrator. Included on that floor will be a rehabilitation area, therapy de partment and recreation room. The fifth floor of the present structure will be removed and a new floor constructed in its place to house a modern nursing home, Detrick said this nursing home will be so arranged as to provide a home-like atmosphere, designed to escape the institution-like ap pearance of many such establish ments. Contractor on the Freeman proj ect is the MP Construction Com pany of Carthage. At St. John's hospital, work got underway a few weeks ago on construction of a new laundry and boiler room adjoining the south west part of the building. That project, first phase of the entire expansion program, is expected to cost $110,000 Plans are for a two-story addi tion to be an upward extension of the hospital's south annex, con structed in 1946. When the south annex was constructed 10 years ago, it was designed so that addi tional floors could be added later. The annex is in a “‘T’’ shape, with a wing extending east and west at the south end of the struc ture. In the expansion project, the two-story addition will be con structed atop the present south annex, providing extensions of the third and fourth floors of the old section of the hospital. Patient capacity of the hospital will be increased from the present 150 beds to about 216 when the project is completed, representing a 66-bed capacity increase. Jones Brothers Construction Company is contractor on the work being done at St. John’s hospital.
Newspaper Details
Joplin News Herald
Joplin, Missouri, US
Wed, Apr 24, 1957
Page 30
Full Page
Clipped by
Brady C.
USA 28 Jun 2026
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