Shelby Baptist Medical Center won unanimous approval last week for a $100 million expansion that will make all of the hospital&8217;s rooms private.

The hospital&8217;s plan faced no opposition from competitors and was granted approval Wednesday from the State Certificate of Need review board.

&8220;This is truly great news for Shelby Baptist, as this project represents the single largest capital project in the history of Baptist Health System,&8221; said Shane Spees, BHS president and CEO.

The expansion centers on a new 168,000-square foot tower, which will be built atop Shelby Baptist&8217;s emergency department. When finished in July 2009, the new tower will allow the hospital to quit using around 50 semi-private rooms.

Hospital officials say Shelby County&8217;s rapid growth and an industry standard of private rooms mandated the change.

&8220;This should result in an even greater level of quality and service,&8221; said David Wilson, hospital president. &8220;Both our patients and clinicians will benefit from this project as we bring the future of health care to our growing community.&8221;

The expansion won&8217;t increase the number of beds at the 192-bed hospital&8212;but Wilson said the new rooms would be substantially larger than those in use today. The expansion, set to begin in October, will also double the number of intensive care rooms from 16 to 32.

&8220;This much-needed project will compliment the state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment services we are implementing at this hospital,&8221; said Wilson.

The tower will consist of four levels. Patient rooms will be built on the third and fourth floors. The second story will house registration and waiting rooms as well as other hospital services. The bottom floor is the existing emergency department.

In addition, a 15,000-square foot energy plant will also be built to support the tower. A new parking deck is also in the works.

Shelby Baptist Medical Center opened in 1959 with approximately 35 beds