Sanford Health will start construction on a new heart and vascular center at the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center in Bemidji, Minnesota, in the spring of 2020.

The center will cost more than $25 million with $2.5 million raised by the Sanford Foundation. Naming rights and donor opportunities for the building and certain areas within the center are still available.

Located between the medical center’s east entrance and the Main Clinic east of the Healing Garden, this new center will house all cardiology, vascular, pulmonary and respiratory therapy services. This includes 19 clinic rooms, 11 diagnostic imaging rooms, education rooms, a cardiovascular recovery unit family room and 3 cath labs with space to add a fourth.

Since beginning the program a decade ago, the cardiology department has experienced a 20 percent growth year-over-year reaching capacity in 2019. In that same time, heart disease-related deaths have decreased by up to 15% in the region.

With direct access to the second floor of the medical center, the building will allow patients to transfer to inpatient floors and services more smoothly providing a better, overall patient experience.

Construction for the new center will take about 18 months, wrapping up in the fall of 2021. Kraus-Anderson Construction as well as 20 to 25 regional sub-contractors will be working on the project.

The center plans include implementing green/energy efficient practices similar to those that are currently in place throughout the medical center including LEDs, energy efficient boilers and access to single-stream recycling.

The healing garden located west of the center will remain in its current location for visitors and staff to enjoy. The space occupied by the current heart and vascular center will be used to expand current ancillary services.