HIGHLAND — The new St. Joseph’s Hospital (SJH) in Highland, at Troxler Avenue and Highway 160/Poplar Street, opened its doors at 6 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 22. Within minutes, ambulances began arriving at regular intervals, bringing 11 patients, their nurses and care teams from the old St. Joseph Hospital at 1515 Main St. to the new hospital. EMS personnel and hospital staff had rehearsed the move and within the hour all patients were settled in the new St. Joseph’s private rooms.

“We’ve spent more than a year planning and practicing for this day,” said Peggy Sebastian, president and CEO. “SJH staff and Highland EMS personnel — along with industry experts with years of experience in guiding hospitals through patient moves like this — have worked hard to ensure this transition is as seamless and as safe as possible.”

The new SJH campus, encompassing more than 125,000 square feet, includes the new one-story hospital facility and adjacent three-story medical office building. It has ample parking space, as well as a large grassy lawn. Each bed is so placed as to give the patient an unobstructed view outside his or her window.

“We have invested nearly $63 million dollars to create a healing environment that provides a high-quality, Franciscan patient experience,” said Sebastian. “The new state-of-the-art SJH combines technology with an efficient floor plan design to maximize patient care and resource utilization.”