Staff, sponsors and others connected with St. Bernards Healthcare in Jonesboro, Arkansas, take part in a ribbon-cutting event for a surgical unit expansion. Cutting the ribbon is Sr. Mary Beth Hackley, OSB, sub-prioress and treasurer of the Olivetan Benedictine Sisters, who founded and still sponsor St. Bernards.
St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas, has added three new surgical suites and shelled space for a fourth. The medical center now has nearly 30 hospital-based and outpatient surgery rooms.
The $7 million expansion is St. Bernards' first major investment in the surgical unit since 2019, when the hospital opened a new surgical and intensive care tower.
In a press release on the latest project’s completion, St. Bernards Chief of Surgery Dr. Joshua Tolleson said the expansion was warranted because there is a growing need for surgical services that is due in part to the aging of the population in
northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri and to increased demand for elective procedures. He said adding the new suites will enhance clinicians' ability to perform a wide variety of surgical procedures with the latest technology.
The project was partially funded by donations, including from a hospital volunteer group called St. Bernards Advocates.