UAB Medical West
- This article is about the 2024 hospital in McCalla. For the former hospital in Bessemer, see Medical West Hospital.
UAB Medical West is a 412,000 square-foot, 9-story, 200-bed full-service hospital located operated by UAB Health System on a 46-acre campus at 5000 Medical West Way, off of Bell Hill Road, between Pocahantas Road and Eastern Valley Road, just south of I-459 in McCalla. It is complemented by a 127,000 square foot, 5-story medical office building built simultaneously. The campus also includes an artificial pond ringed by walking trails. Keith Pennington is the hospital's chief executive officer.
It was constructed by the Medical West Hospital Authority, an affiliate of UAB Health System, as a replacement for its former Medical West Hospital on 9th Avenue Southwest (U.S. Highway 11) in Bessemer. The site for a new facility was acquired in 2018 with assistance of Cushman & Wakefield / EGS Commercial Real Estate.
Ground was broken for the new hospital on November 17, 2021. In December UAB restructured the ownership of the existing medical center in order to qualify for a $358 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finance construction of the new facility. At the time it was reported that the existing building could potentially be converted into a mental health center.
UAB Health System began with CBRE Birmingham as its project management partner, but completed the job with Johnson Development as project manager. The hospital complex was designed by HKS Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia in association with Birmingham's KPS Group. It was constructed by Brasfield & Gorrie at a cost of $400 million. A ribbon-cutting was celebrated on July 11, 2024, and it opened for patients in August of that year.
References
- Koplowitz, Howard (October 26, 2018) "UAB Medical West to move from Bessemer to McCalla." The Birmingham News
- Enoch, Ed (April 10, 2021) "UAB Health System to purchase Medical West Hospital site as part of $51 million deal." The Birmingham News
- Patchen, Tyler (November 18, 2021) "Medical West Hospital Authority breaks ground on a new McCalla facility." Birmingham Business Journal
- Watson, Nathan (July 12, 2024) "Inside the NEW UAB Medical West facility, opening August 2024." Bham Now