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Kadlec continued to move forward to improve health and treat disease in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. From the NICU treating the tiniest babies, to advanced imaging capabilities and new program, Kadlec strived to provide the care and state of the art technology the community needed close to home.

Those expanding services, larger patient volumes and a growing community brought Kadlec’s need to expand during the 2000s to the forefront. When the four-story building was constructed in 1969, fewer than 300 people were working at Kadlec. By 2000, that number grew to more than 700.

In early 2000, Kadlec announced a 85,000 square foot expansion/remodel to include 41 additional patients rooms including a new Intensive Care Unit (adding 10 rooms and doubling in size), a Short Stay Unit (12 rooms), a new Emergency Department, 19 new private patient rooms, a support services building, a new main entrance and lobby and a sixth operating room to facilitate the creation of a new open heart surgery program in the Tri-Cities.

A significant step forward in the care of sick patients began in 2001 with the addition of open heart surgery services at Kadlec. In addition to surgery, the heart program included diagnostic cardiac catheterization and rehabilitation. Physicians also began offering interventional cardiology including stents and angioplasty.

The new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) included state-of-the-art equipment, large rooms for patient and family comfort and private family waiting areas. Kadlec also introduced a new medical specialty to the Tri-Cities with the addition of two full-time Intensivists, offering 24/7 physician coverage for patients in the Critical Care Unit. In 2003, Hospitalists were added to the Kadlec Medical Staff, again the first to do so in the region. Hospitalists specialize in around-the-clock care for hospitalized patients.

Health care in the region took another significant step forward with the opening of a new all-digital Outpatient Imaging Center at Kadlec Regional Medical Center. The center is equipped with the latest imaging technology providing physicians the most sophisticated tools available to diagnose and treat disease.

The comprehensive facility offers patients numerous imaging services in one location -- from high-tech x-ray machines and a premiere magnetic resonance (MRI) scanner to breakthrough technology. This facility is also tied into Kadlec’s PACS system (radiology information technology) which allows physicians to instantly access images when and where they are needed.

The imaging center occupies the first floor of a three-story medical office building constructed on land purchased from the city of Richland.

Other growth at Kadlec included:

• Expanded outpatient services with the addition of Kadlec Therapy Services at the Leslie-Gage Health Center in Richland’s Meadow Springs area.
• The Garden, offering a beautiful space for quiet medi¬tation and reflection or even just to sit and enjoy the day. Located off the Vineyard Lobby of the Medical Center, it features private places to sit, a water feature and beautiful landscaping. The entire garden project was paid for by generous donors to the Kadlec Foundation.
• The need for speed in diagnosing and treating a heart attack led Kadlec to create a Chest Pain Center—the first certified chest pain center in the Northwest. The Center brought together the skills and resources of the area’s emergency personnel in the field, Kadlec’s emergency department, its heart care team and its Hospitalists. Kadlec is the only accredited chest pain center in the region with the emergency ability to treat heart attacks using balloon angioplasty.
• The creation of an Advanced Breast Care Center at its Outpatient Imaging Center which offers a combination of prompt care, the most sophisticated breast imag¬ing equipment and clinical expertise. Services include digital mammogra¬phy, breast ultrasound, breast MRI, ultrasound-guided needle biopsy, stereotactic core biopsy and a Patient Information Library.
• The opening of Columbia Basin College’s $13.2 million Health Science Center in Richland was celebrated in 2006. The health sciences center was built to house nearly all of CBC’s health sciences programs. It will enable CBC to nearly double the size of its nursing program and build up programs including surgery technicians and radiological sciences. Kadlec donated $2 million toward the project and is leasing the fourth floor.

Between 2000 and 2005, Kadlec’s admissions were up 60 percent, outpatient visits doubled and inpatients from outside Benton and Franklin Counties more than doubled.

To meet the ever-growing need for physicians within the community, Kadlec Clinic was created. It includes physicians from a variety of specialties. By 2009, Kadlec Clinic already included 12 locations and over 50 providers.

Kadlec formalized its mission to deliver compassionate care to patients and families by becoming a member of the Planetree Alliance. Planetree is an international organization that helps hospitals create patient-centered care in a healing environment. Planetree’s approach is holistic and encourages healing in all dimensions— mental, emotional, spiritual and social as well as physical. It seeks to maximize health care outcomes by integrating optimal medical therapies. Access to arts and nature are also incorporated into the healing environment. Across the country, Planetree is spreading rapidly as medical organizations continue to bring a stronger focus on patients and their care and comfort.

Ground was broken on May 30, 2006 for Kadlec’s North Tower (now called River Pavilion). The $70-plus million, six-story project – named the River Pavilion -- included a 36-bed Clinic Decision Unit, 10 new operating rooms plus a Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, a 28-bed Intermediate Care Unit and more. It was built with the flexibility to go as high as 10-stories as demand dictates.

Even before the new building was occupied, a fund raising campaign was undertaken by Kadlec Foundation to build a pediatric center on the River Pavilion’s fifth floor. Over $7 million was raised within the community create the Don & Lori Watts Pediatric Center, which opened in 2009.

While construction of the pediatric center was underway, the decision was made to complete the sixth floor of the River Pavilion. When finished, it will include additional private patient rooms.

With a vision of creating one place where patients with neurological issues can come to receive the care they need from diagnosis to treatment to rehabilitation and support, the Kadlec Neuroscience Center was created. As the center grows, the focus of care will be treatment of spine, tumors, stroke, neurological disorders and pain management. Physician specialties will include neurosurgery, neurology, orthopedic spine surgery, physiatry and pain management. Plans call for the construction of a new building which pull together even more services under one roof, including The Neurological Resource Center, imaging services and Kadlec’s Outpatient Rehabilitation.

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