More than 300 people broke out into applause Friday morning (June 29) on the south side of Taylorville Memorial Hospital as hospital and community officials turned shovels full of soil at the conclusion of a ceremony to mark the construction of a 97,000-square-foot building.

"This project is not really about buildings. It is about people," said Kim Bourne, president and CEO of Taylorville Memorial Hospital in her remarks at the start of the ceremony. "The scope, scale and size of this project are pretty significant, but it's really about fulfilling our mission to improve the health of the people and communities we serve."

The new two-story structure will be built on the current hospital campus at 201 E. Pleasant St. and will be fully complete by early 2021. It will replace most of the current hospital, which was built in 1954 and founded by The Adorers of the Blood of Christ in 1906, when it was known as St. Vincent Memorial Hospital. The estimated cost of the project is $60 million.

The construction will include 25 private patient rooms. Three rooms will be larger to provide additional family space and will be fitted with overhead ceiling-mounted power lift equipment to help move patients from their beds to the bathrooms. They'll have larger bathrooms and showers to assist patients who might need help to shower.

The inpatient unit will have a family lounge area, a multipurpose activity room, a meditation space and a kitchen and dining area for patients and families.

The new facility will also have space for outpatient services, laboratory, educational conference rooms and administrative offices. The main hospital kitchen will be in the new facility, with space for a cafeteria and dining area.

A rehab services area will offer physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and cardiac/pulmonary rehab services.

A specialty clinic will include space for out-of-town physician specialists to see patients, a congestive heart failure clinic and a room equipped for telehealth visits.

"This building has served the healthcare needs of the community well for more than 60 years, but the field of healthcare and the needs of our patients have changed greatly during that time," said Ed Curtis, president and CEO of Memorial Health System. Taylorville Memorial Hospital is one of seven affiliates of the Springfield-based health system.

"With the launch of this construction project, we hope to bring the sisters' legacy of service and quality care into a new century," Curtis said.

The construction will be completed in two phases. The first phase is expected to be ready in early 2020 and will see the opening of the patient rooms, outpatient services, therapy services, laboratory, pharmacy, specialty clinic and central utility plant. The second phase is targeted for an early 2021 opening and will include food and nutrition services, administrative offices and conference rooms. The five-story building, built more than six decades ago, will be torn down during the second phase.

O'Shea Builders in Springfield is the general contractor. Architects from BSA Life Structures in St. Louis are the designers.