The University of Alabama system approves the plan to replace the current Cooper Green facilities with a state-of-the-art medical clinic.
Written by: Bob Shepard
Media contact: Alicia Rohan
The University of Alabama system approves the plan to replace the current Cooper Green facilities with a state-of-the-art medical clinic. The Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority received final approval from the Board of Directors of the University of Alabama System to move forward with plans to replace the current building with a state-of-the-art medical clinic. Construction of the new building is expected to begin this winter. It will be built on the site of the former Cooper Green car park, which was demolished earlier this year. The new five-story building will be 207,000 square feet in size and have an estimated overall cost of $120 million.
Under an agreement between Jefferson County and the UAB Health Systemthe Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority was established to manage Cooper Green in April 2020. The authority will construct a modern and improved facility to replace the current building, which dates from the early 1970s. The current building is expensive to maintain and no longer suitable for the effective delivery of modern ambulatory health care.
“We are building a first-class medical facility to serve the residents of Jefferson County,” said David Randall, director of strategy for UAB Health System and chairman of the board and CEO of Cooper Green Mercy. Health Services Authority. “Jefferson County leadership and UAB are committed to providing the highest quality health care to Cooper Green patients, and this new facility is an important step in achieving that goal.”
The Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority provides high quality health care to all residents of Jefferson County, regardless of ability to pay. It is a full-service ambulatory care facility that includes primary and specialty care clinics, emergency care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, laboratory services, d imaging and pharmacy.
“We are excited to hear that the next leg of Cooper Green’s long service in Jefferson County is progressing,” said Jefferson County Executive Cal Markert. “The collaboration between the county and the UAB Health System has brought us to this pivotal moment, and we are excited to soon be able to offer our patients a truly world-class medical facility.”
The building will feature new equipment and include plans for a magnetic resonance imaging machine, which will make it easier for Cooper Green patients to get MRIs and improve access to care.
“We will provide services to our patients in the new facility in a more patient-centric manner than we have been able to offer previously in our current building,” said Raegan Durant, MD, medical director of Cooper Green. “But patients will also continue to see familiar faces among our staff. We will combine the best of the past 50 years of service with the benefits the new facility will bring as we look forward to the next 50 years of care for our patients.
Among other building amenities, an expanded rehabilitation room will include a covered outdoor section for developing outdoor skills such as navigating sidewalks and different ground surfaces.
A separate phlebotomy and injection clinic will streamline lab visits and improve the immunization process. Clinic areas will be designed to support multidisciplinary team-based care, which will centralize clinic visits for patient convenience.
The installation will also integrate natural light throughout the building in stairwells and waiting areas. Oncology infusion suites will have windows in each treatment room.
The new building will have a gift shop and dining options are being explored. It will house several other professional and community services, including Cahaba Dental, the Recovery Resource Crisis Center, UAB Community Psychiatry, and the UAB School of Nursing PATH clinic.
Cooper Green will continue to operate normally as an outpatient clinic at 1515 6th Avenue South. Emergencies are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and clinics are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cooper Green was first called Mercy Hospital when it opened in 1972 as a 319-bed acute care hospital, owned by Jefferson County and providing medical services to all county residents, regardless of regardless of their ability to pay. In 1975 it was renamed in honor of former Mayor of Birmingham, Cooper Green. Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority is now affiliated with the UAB Health System.
The general contractor for the project is Brasfield & Gorrie. The architect is Gresham Smith.
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