New Orleans-based LCMC Health is moving forward with expansion plans after its $150 million purchase of three HCA Healthcare hospitals.
The hospitals, New Orleans-based Tulane Medical Center; Covington, La.-based Lakeview Regional Medical Center; and Metairie, La.-based Tulane Lakeside Hospital, were purchased last January after the nonprofit health system secured approval from the Louisiana Department of Justice.
As part of the merger, Tulane Medical Center is moving its patients, employees and services to Metairie-based East Jefferson General Hospital, part of LCMC.
"LCMC Health is excited to move into the next phase of our partnership with Tulane University," a spokesperson for LCMC Health told Becker's in a statement. "As we integrate our operations, we are able to make locally based decisions that best serve the comprehensive and specialty care needs of patients in our region."
LCMC invested $220 million into the expansion of East Jefferson as part of the merger plans.
The expansion includes 37 new critical care units, eight operating rooms, 15 academic partnership clinics, emergency department expansion, cancer center expansion, $56 million of infrastructure improvements, and $15 million in imaging and interventional equipment, according to information shared with Becker's from LCMC on the expansion.
Additional career opportunities like nursing and healthcare professional pipeline programs for existing and future employees are also part of the expansion.
Following the move, the Tulane Medical Center building will house a nursing program in fall 2024.