MISSOULA - Community Medical Center (CMC) has announced a $17.9 million project expanding their current Heart and Vascular Clinic by 19,015 square feet.
CMC is located on South Avenue and is a part of Lifepoint Health and Billings Clinic.
The expansion will prepare them for Missoula’s growing and aging community.
“The community of Missoula is growing and it’s getting older. There is a much larger need of cardiac and vascular is this community now. And it’s time that we actually invested in that, for this community,” said CMC interventional cardiologist Dr. Douglas Waldo.
CMC already provides 24/7 heart attack coverage, and non-invasive diagnostics such as nuclear testing, and currently has one Catheterization Lab, which tests circulation and can treat heart disorders without the need for anesthesia or surgery.
This expansion will increase their diagnostic technology with stress testing and echocardiography, according to Dr. Waldo. They will add two new Catheterization Labs, one with technology designed for endovascular work.
The new technology and space will better serve CMC’s staff, according to CMC chief executive officer Bob Gomes, "we’ve got great physicians and their volumes are up, and they just need the space to be able to practice."
With a larger, more modern facility, CMC hopes the new building will attract new cardiologists and physicians. With more space, they can hire more people.
“We’re able to increase our technology, we’re able to increase our expertise, and we’re able to attract some really expert care in other cardiac personnel,” Dr. Waldo says.
The expansion will be the center’s second recent construction. The expanded and remodeled Emergency Department will open this summer.
“As Missoula continues to grow, Montana continues to grow, we need to grow with it. So the new ED will be beautiful, we can’t wait until it opens this summer, and that also compliments our new cardiovascular center because a lot of those patients will come through the ED and have ready access to a new facility,” Gomes says.
This construction will not affect patient services and is paid for by an investment from LifePoint Health.
