LEXINGTON – Wake Forest Baptist Health Lexington Medical Center plans to build a surgery center to replace its current operating rooms.

The $31.5 million project will be jointly funded by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and local philanthropists.

The state-of-the-art surgical facility will include four digital operating rooms that can accommodate various types of procedures and specialties. A cystoscopy procedure room, a 10-bay post-anesthesia care unit, a dedicated waiting area for families, and consultation rooms for physicians and family will enhance the care provided at Lexington Medical Center.

“Our current operating rooms were built almost 40 years ago, so this new facility is greatly needed to ensure that we will be able to meet the future needs of our community and provide an even better experience for our patients and families,” said Bill James, president of Lexington Medical Center. “This new surgery center will be built separate from our current surgical services area, so we will be able to continue surgeries while the new facility is under construction.”

The surgical facility will be adjacent to the outpatient surgery center entrance on Emergency Drive. The preliminary site work involves removing a parking lot and upgrading the hospital’s central energy plant.

The existing road around the hospital will also be reworked to maintain traffic flow.

When the surgery center is completed, the four operating rooms will be converted to procedure rooms.

Construction on the 26,500-square-foot facility is expected to begin this summer. Lexington Medical Center is working with Rodgers Builders of Charlotte and Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, also of Charlotte. Both companies have extensive experience with hospital design and construction.

A groundbreaking is planned this summer. Details of a capital campaign will be announced then.