Brookwood Health Services will hold ground-breaking in mid-April

Brookwood Health Services will hold a ground-breaking in mid-April at the site of planned free-standing emergency department (FED) to be built near U.S. 280 and Alabama 119, Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said.

It will be Hoover’s second, joining a 24,342-square-foot free-standing emergency department that UAB Medical West is set to open in mid-May near Alabama 150 and Interstate 459.

“We’re so excited about that facility as well as the ER  that UAB is building on Alabama 150 near Target,” the mayor said. “For us to have Alabama’s only free-standing ER departments in Hoover is great for our residents.”

The Hoover city council in January 2015 approved $900,000 in incentives to help Brookwood offset the costs of the project. Council President Jack Wright, in an April 2 interview, said the medical facility will fill a need for Hoover residents needing emergency medical services but desiring to avoid traffic congestion on the busy U.S. 280 corridor.

“It’s about saving lives,” Wright said. “How’d you like to be stuck in traffic on 280? When you’re having a heart attack or a stroke, every minute counts.”

 Brookwood plans to invest $19.5 million to build the free-standing emergency department on U.S. 280 near the Greystone community. UAB Medical West spent about $13.5 million to build its FED at Alabama 150 and I-459. Ivey said that facility is on track for a mid-May opening.

  Though the Brookwood official ground-breaking is in mid-April, construction is already underway at the site. Calls to Brookwood officials were not returned prior to publication.