ZACHARY, La. (WAFB) - Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary just unveiled their latest upgrade—a $90 million tower—that they say will allow them to expand the community’s access to care.
“It’s like a five-star quality facility here,” CEO Frank Corcoran said.
The tower is the most recent upgrade to Lane in over four decades, adding 86 thousand sq ft to the old hospital. CEO Frank Corcoran says it’s not just an upgrade in terms of space, it’s an upgrade in the level of care and services that providers can give patients.
“Our ORs right now, really small, built 1960s. As technology increases and improves in surgery, you need more room, da Vinci robots, robotic surgeries, you need a lot more room. And we don’t have the room in the old hospital. So, this is going to make it state-of-the-art,” Corcoran said.
The four-story tower features 48 new hospital beds, a six-bed ICU, four operating rooms, and a new entrance and registration area. Corcoran says this means patients living outside of East Baton Rouge Parish looking to receive certain services will have less distance to travel.
“We have not just Zachary, we have Baker, we have Central, we have West Feliciana, we have New Roads, we have patients coming from Mississippi. We are here to provide the services that we can to meet the community’s needs. That is my mission,” Corcoran said.
Recent news about Medicaid cuts has some people in Louisiana worried about their future access to care. Corcoran says they’re basically paying for the $90 million tower themselves with the help of a low-interest loan with the USDA, allowing them to continue adding resources instead of taking them away.
“The Big Beautiful Bill has been out and we’re facing Medicare, Medicaid reductions and that’s a lot to a lot of hospitals all over the country. So how do you combat that? You can cut your resources to balance the budget, or you can grow to supplement that losses. So at Lane, we want to grow our services to meet the needs of the community,” Corcoran said.
The tower will officially begin operating after the Louisiana Department of Health inspects and approves the facility. Cocoran says the plan is to open mid to late September.
to report a typo. Please include the headline.
to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.