KU Hospital plans $250 million expansion

(Video courtesy University of Kansas Hospital)

The University of Kansas Hospital today launched a drive to raise $100 million in private money for another hospital building.

Leading the effort will be Greg and Deanna Graves, who are personally donating $1 million.

Greg Graves is the chairman and CEO of Burns & McDonnell and vice chair of the University of Kansas Hospital Authority Board.

He also announced today that the Burns & McDonnell Foundation is contributing $2.5 million, its largest single contribution.

Graves said, “We will need every nickel to raise this ($100 million)” for what is to be a $250 million structure at northeast corner of 39th and Cambridge streets.

“This will have to be something that comes from every neighbor, every politician and every incredibly wealthy person you know,” he told a crowd at the hospital nursing school.

The building to be called Cambridge North would staff about 100 new doctors and provide 600 patient beds in specialized surgical and support areas, hospital officials said.

In 2005, the hospital purchased 14 acres of land for the project.

The construction start will depend on how long it takes to raise the money, said Bob Page, president and CEO of the hospital.

“With out growth in patient volume across the board, we would like to begin construction very soon,” he said.

Patient volume at the hospital has grown 30 percent in the last five years and its fastest growing services like neurosciences, surgical oncology and Ear Nose and Throat procedures have grown 40 percent, officials said.

Greg Graves praised the hospital for saving the life of his mother when she suffered severe congestive heath failure.

Deanna Graves said the hospital attracts more than 30 percent of its patients from outside the Kansas City area, and as demand grows, “the hospital needs to build more beds to serve the needs of its patients.”

Recent KU Hospital construction has already contributed to new and renovated businesses on 39th street and adjoining areas.

The hospital has invested $186 million in new facilities and renovations since 2011, the Kansas City Star reported.

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