In addition to a new tower, The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano’s expansion project includes an expanded research department, renovated lobby, business center, restaurant and coffee shop.[/caption]

The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano started work on a 150,000-square-foot expansion in mid-May that, when complete, will feature a new five-story tower complete with a 200-seat auditorium and twice the number of private outpatient beds.

The project is expected to be complete in May 2018. This is the fifth expansion for the hospital, which opened in January 2007.

The expansion will also include quadrupling the size of the hospital’s cardiac rehab department to add more exercise space, equipment and consultation areas.

As it stands, there is a waiting list to get into the program, said Mark Valentine, president of The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano.

The hospital’s research department will also be expanded into its own private suite on the fifth floor of the new tower.  THHP has roughly 100 ongoing research trials and is also in the process of creating a residency program for training physicians.

The new training area’s auditorium will be open to the community for use as well, Valentine said.

Also included in the expansion are four new operating suites, a new post- anesthesia recovery unit, and new and expanded guest amenities, such as a business center, restaurant and coffee shop.

In the span of 10 years, the Heart Hospital has gone from doing 500-600 heart surgeries a year to about 1,700 surgeries per year, Valentine said, ranking it the fifth largest heart-hospital in the U.S.

The hospital conducts anywhere from nine to 10 open-heart surgeries per day, he said. In May, the hospital was named one of only 12 hospitals in the U.S. to earn the Society of Thoracic Surgeons three-star rating in all three categories: isolated coronary artery bypass grafting, isolated aortic valve replacement and aortic valve replacement plus coronary artery bypass grafting.

The ability to continue and expand the hospital’s research and services will help it continue to be a national destination for both patients and surgeons, Valentine said.

“Our quality is what we focus on every day; it’s very rewarding work,” said Valentine, who has served as the hospital’s president since its opening. “We view this as not two hospitals but one medical campus where we can deliver superior medical care.”