St. Vincent's One Nineteen holds ribbon cutting, blessing to celebrate expansion

Hundreds of people showed up today for the ribbon cutting and blessing for St. Vincent's Health System's new urgent care and outpatient surgery center in north Shelby County.

The 40,000-square-foot, $15.6 million expansion at St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Health and Wellness center on Alabama 119 is set to open in the new year. The expansion, next to Greystone, includes an outpatient surgery center, urgent care center and additional physician offices.

St. Vincent’s broke ground on the expansion in October 2014, and it has been in the plans since One Nineteen was built more than 10 years ago.

“Thank you for being here to celebrate this wonderful blessing of our new outpatient surgery center, urgent care and additional professional office building space," said Stephanie Holderby, executive director of St. Vincent's One Nineteen. "This has definitely been a labor of love.” 

The expansion includes three operating rooms, two procedure rooms, additional office space, eight exam rooms and additional parking. There is also a fourth operating room already built, and it will be utilized as the facility grows.

Holderby said one goal of the expansion is to adapt to the consistently changing world of health care, but St. Vincent's officials also want to enhance patient experience.

Neeysa Biddle, senior vice president of St. Vincent's Health System's parent company, Ascension Health, and the Birmingham ministry market executive, echoed those thoughts.

“Our goal is to create a true clinically integrated system of care for all of Birmingham’s area that joins together disparate services, aims to keep people healthy and living well, delivers coordinated, personalized care at the right place and at the right time,” Biddle said. “One Nineteen is a great example of this transformational work, especially with the addition of these new services.”

Dr. John Farley, medical director for St. Vincent’s One Nineteen, said he looks forward to providing a nearby option for patients, rather than sending them downtown for procedures.

“I think that the addition of the surgery and services is going to be absolutely huge in this area,” Farley said. “I think you’re really going to like that when you have to have surgery, not having to drive downtown at four in the morning.”

Throughout the ceremony, speakers mentioned the four Daughters of Charity who founded St. Vincent’s in 1898. The sisters will be memorialized in the Sisters’ Garden, an outdoor sacred space for services, personal prayer and reflection. 

“When we first embarked on One Nineteen, we were stepping outside of the typical health care model,” said Nan Priest, vice president of Ascension Health and the chief strategy and business development officer. “But like the Daughters of Charity, and all of the St. Vincent’s leaders that have come before us and whose shoulders we stand on today, we knew that adapting and innovating was the only way to truly serve the needs of our patients.”

Following today's speakers, the Rev. Joseph Culotta from Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church blessed the building and grounds with holy water. A blessing was also offered to the medical staff in One Nineteen’s existing medical services.