By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

CHELSEA – Chelsea Business Alliance members boarded a charter bus and rode to Grandview Medical Center on the afternoon of Nov. 4 for a private tour of the new hospital.

About 30 CBA members had the opportunity to walk around Grandview and listen to a synopsis of the hospital’s layout and amenities following its Oct. 10 move from the former Trinity Medical Center campus on Montclair Road to the new location off U.S. 280 near the Cahaba River.

“It was a terrific effort,” Grandview Chief Executive Officer Keith Granger said of the move, which doubled as a “mass casualty” training exercise for local agencies helping with patient transport. “It’s our privilege to host you today.”

State Sen. Slade Blackwell, R-Birmingham, spoke to the group and led a “What should the state do?” discussion on government tax and budget decisions before the hospital tour started.

“He’s always been a friend to the healthcare industry,” Granger said of Blackwell, who serves on the health committee.

Grandview Chief Operating Officer Drew Mason also addressed the group and touched on technological aspects of Grandview’s patient experience.

Mason said the hospital has a partnership with ACESO to facilitate advanced patient and provider communication through interactive digital boards and monitors.

Jeff Green, cath lab director, talked to visitors about the hospital’s six cath labs and equipment.

The move from Trinity to Grandview on Oct. 10 lasted about five hours and involved 12 convoys of ambulances transporting 97 patients.

Between 150 and 200 non-hospital employees, including law enforcement officers, EMS workers and volunteers, participated in the process.

The Grandview campus consists of the hospital, a 250,000-square-foot medical office building and an 11-level parking deck with nearly 3,000 parking spaces connecting the two facilities.

Inside the hospital are 372 beds, 30 operating rooms, four intensive care units with 72 beds and a neonatal intensive care unit with 12 beds.

Granger commended the Alabama Department of Transportation for its construction of additional turn lanes at the Grandview entrance as part of a widening project on U.S. 280 between the Cahaba River and Interstate 459.

“We’ve been thrilled by the work ALDOT has done,” Granger said, adding traffic flow in the area seems to be better. “We’re confident that they’ve done a great job in getting that design put together.”

The nearly $280 million project Granger described as “six years in the making” started in December 2013.

“Four-plus years in the courts were certainly a nuisance and a pain,” Granger said. “The opportunity to help people makes the battle worthwhile. We look forward to serving the community.”