With a burst of confetti and smoke-filled fireworks, Freeman Health System’s President and Chief Executive Officer Paula Baker proudly showed off the future site of the Freeman newest, full-service hospital.
She also unveiled the hospital’s official name: Freeman Southeast Kansas Hospital.
“This day marks an historical first for Freeman Health System and the entire Southeast Kansas region,” she said, her words punctuated by horn blasts from passing vehicles on nearby Highway 69. “Those of you in attendance today are among the very first to stand at the site of our new hospital.”
The site she’s referring to — now a soybean field located adjacent to E. 600th Avenue just minutes from downtown Pittsburg — will soon transform into a 170,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art hospital.
Engineers are completing the Phase 1 environmental assessment of this site and are now in the process of the geotechnical investigation of the subterranean condition. Drilling equipment is currently onsite at various points throughout the 55-acre site.
“This geo-technical data and analysis are necessary to precisely design and construct the site-specific foundations and structural system required to support the new hospital as we bring the structures out of the ground,” Baker said.
During a time when rural hospitals are closing across the nation — 58 percent of rural Kansas hospitals were at risk of closing in 2023 alone — Freeman is constructing a new facility that will serve the healthcare needs of Crawford County and the outlying Southeast Kansas communities.
“The residents of Pittsburg and Southeast Kansas deserve the best and we at Freeman Health System are committed to providing just that — quality, innovative healthcare in your own backyard,” Baker said.
She was joined at the podium during the morning celebration by Frontenac Mayor Steve Morrison, Frontenac City Administrator John Zafuta and Crawford County Commissioners Carl Wood and Tom Moody. At the ceremony’s conclusion, an airplane flying a brightly colored Freeman banner circled the hospital site.
The $168 million, 50-bed hospital will offer a full array of comprehensive care, including an emergency department, cardiac services and catheterization lab, an intensive care unit, maternity, pediatrics, outpatient/inpatient surgery – including robotic procedures – as well as medical and radiation oncology, pulmonary and radiology, among other key services. Overall, the hospital will create at least 500 to 1,000 new jobs in Pittsburg.
Freeman already has a sizable footprint in Pittsburg, with several primary care clinics, an outpatient surgery center and a comprehensive medical oncology program. And earlier this year, Freeman announced that it will take over operations of the Ft. Scott-based emergency department and open a 10-bed acute hospital there.
About Freeman Health System
Locally owned, not-for-profit and nationally recognized, Freeman Health System includes Freeman Hospital West, Freeman Hospital East, Freeman Neosho Hospital and Ozark Center — the area’s largest provider of behavioral health services — as well as two urgent care clinics, dozens of physician clinics and a variety of specialty services. In 2020, Freeman earned dozens of individual awards for medical excellence and patient safety from CareChex®, a quality rating system that helps consumers evaluate healthcare providers. U.S. News & World Report named Freeman Health System the Best Hospital in Southwest Missouri for 2020. With more than 320 physicians on staff representing more than 80 specialties, Freeman provides cancer care, heart care, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopaedics, children’s services and women’s services. Additionally, Freeman is the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in a 70-mile radius. For more information, visit freemanhealth.com.
Reference:
Kevin McClintock, Media Relations Coordinator
Freeman Health System
417.434.3458
KSMcclintock@freemanhealth.com
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