The structural concrete phase for the patient tower was completed in October and now steel work can begin. The new patient tower will be a reinforced-concrete and steel structure. The first three stories are made of reinforced concrete, and the fourth and fifth stories will be structural steel. The steel is expected to arrive by the end of November. Original construction scheduling called for the work to begin earlier in November, however steel fabrication took longer than expected. The steel work will include the beam that more than 200 people signed with their names and personal messages – and sometimes small images – at our Beam Signing Celebration.

Thank you to Northstate Anesthesiology Partners, a group of local physicians who provide anesthesiology care at Enloe Medical Center, for their recent commitment of $500,000 to the Enloe Century Project expansion.

“Northstate Anesthesiology Partners is a group of physicians truly committed to our community. Enloe greatly appreciates their support of our expansion,” states Robert Adams, Vice President of the Enloe Foundation.

Northstate Anesthesiology Partners (NAP) also recently gave a $10,000 gift as a sponsor of Enloe’s 23rd Annual Golf Tournament, which benefits the Century Project and the Enloe Golf Nursing Scholarship. Michael Pryomski, DO, President of NAP, said the donations are expressions of the group’s support of Enloe Medical Center and the local community. “We look forward to practicing in the new surgery center that’s part of the expansion currently under construction,” says Dr. Pryomski.

The single-story surgery center will have its own street entrance, reception area and lounge that will double the existing surgical suites. It will provide dedicated heart, neurological and orthopedic operating rooms and two private surgery consultation rooms for physicians to meet with patients and families. The Century Project, which expands Enloe’s Esplanade campus, also includes a five-story patient tower; single-story emergency center; parking structure, which is now open; and an adjacent park.

Since NAP formed in March 2007, the physician group has focused on providing high-quality anesthesia services and recruiting permanent anesthesiologists to Chico. NAP now has a full complement of 14 anesthesiologists who provide services at Enloe Medical Center’s Esplanade campus and at the outpatient center on Bruce Road. Anesthesiologists optimize operating conditions to help allow for safe and effective surgery.

“We have anesthesiologists who have been at Enloe for years and those from other parts of the country who bring new perspectives and expertise in different facets of anesthesiology,” says Michael Hieb, MD, Vice Chair of the Anesthesiology Department, who was one of the early recruits and served as NAP’s first president. “Now that we have met many of our clinical goals, we’re reaching out to support community charities and services.”

Enloe launched a public art project for the Parking Structure, and sixteen local artists submitted their proposals. A panel of nine judges from the arts community and Enloe selected nine artists from the submissions. The artists will be announced shortly and begin creating their pieces. The art will be placed in arched alcoves along Magnolia Avenue. The first round will be displayed from October 2008 through April 2009, and then be auctioned off at a Planetree gala, with half of the proceeds going to the individual artists and half to Enloe’s Planetree fund. We envision three rounds of selections over the years. Ultimately Enloe will purchase nine permanent pieces.