The top beam was installed Monday on the new St. Joseph’s/Candler Pooler micro hospital and the residents of Pooler are that much closer to advanced medical and surgical services in their backyards.

“The reality of this technologically-advanced medical campus tailored to what the residents of Pooler and West Chatham need is quickly becoming a reality,” said Paul P. Hinchey, President & CEO of St. Joseph’s/Candler. “We will soon be providing important medical services that they used to have to drive miles for.”

St. Joseph’s/Candler is building a technologically advanced, concierge-level of service medical campus that will house surgical suites, many medical specialties, primary care, urgent care and more. The 170,000 square foot facility will have three phases and cost $62 million. 

Key developments:

• The first phase will open to the public February 18, 2019.

• A da Vinci Surgical System robot has been dedicated to the Pooler campus to provide surgeries that are minimally invasive with fast recovery times.

• The first phase will feature two operating rooms and two endoscopy suites.

• Metro Surgical and Gastroenterology Consultants of Savannah are the first specialty practices to commit to opening practices at the Pooler facility.

• Construction is ahead of schedule.

When complete, the 170,000-square-foot micro hospital will contribute to Pooler’s economic development by employing approximately 100 co-workers.

The tradition of the topping off ceremony

Topping off ceremonies are a traditional way of toasting the last or highest beam placed during building construction.  

Monday, Hinchey and dignitaries from the St. Joseph’s/Candler Board of Trustees and Pooler joined to celebrate the last beam set in place.  

St. Joseph’s/Candler has been in Pooler since 1992 and has expanded services to correspond to the growth of the area. In addition to a thriving primary care practice, St. Joseph’s/Candler has built offices for specialty physicians and an advanced imaging center. But now is the time for a centralized campus and to take St. Joseph’s/Candler’s advanced services to the community.  

The new 23-acre campus will be located on Pooler Parkway near the intersection with Interstate 16. The project will be multi-phased and built out over a ten-year period to create a multi-story, technologically advanced medical facility.

It will house offices for specialty and primary care offices in close proximity to key clinical services. The total estimated cost of the project is $62 million.

PHASE I

Phase I of the St. Joseph’s/Candler Pooler Campus will be about 83,000 square feet and cost $35 million. It will open in early 2019 and house distinct medical offices and clinical services.

The medical office building will contain:

• Primary Care Services

• Urgent Care Services

• Specialist offices

The clinical services portion will contain:

• Advanced Imaging Services

• Endoscopy

• Outpatient surgery

• Outpatient Physical Therapy Services

• Pharmacy Services

• Laboratory Services

• Wellness Services

• Community Education Services

Phase II will include:

• Expanded primary care offices

• Expanded specialty offices

• Wound Care

• Cardiac rehab

• Occupational medicine

• Diagnostic cardiology

• Short stay observation beds

The St. Joseph’s/Candler Pooler Campus fills a significant community gap in the rapidly developing Pooler area. Many of the housing subdivisions are completely built out and others are filling up.

St. Joseph’s/Candler has been building a significant regional footprint – now with 87 provider locations spanning 33 counties in southeastern Georgia and South Carolina.

What is a micro hospital?

In the past few years the health care industry has shifted dramatically from traditional in-patient services that involve longer hospital stays to more out-patient services, such as day surgery, imaging or non-invasive procedures that involve little or no time spent in the hospital for recovery.

These micro-hospitals address that shift and treat lower-acuity patients in locations near where patients live.

The outpatient services that patients need are perfect for the setting that St. Joseph’s/Candler is creating for the Pooler campus. The services will the convenient for patients who are visiting primary care and specialty doctors on the campus and don’t have to drive into Savannah to have important procedures, labs or imaging done.  

“These facilities are the future of healthcare,” Hinchey said. “We have designed the Pooler campus so we can easily adapt to any changes in the healthcare industry that come in the next 25 years.”