UCHealth announced on Wednesday plans for a $407 million expansion that will nearly double the size of Memorial Hospital North in Colorado Springs.

In a news release, UCHealth Memorial Hospital President and CEO Lonnie Cramer said the hospital has been operating at or near capacity for several years. The project will help meet growing community needs for health care and broaden specialty offerings in northern El Paso County, the health system said.

The project includes almost 330,000 square feet of new construction at Memorial Hospital North on Briargate Parkway. About 45% of the space is planned to be built for immediate use; the rest will be designated as shell space for future growth, the release said. Among other things, the expanded space will allow Memorial North to continue growing its cancer center, with plans to add clinical trials and advanced treatments.

“This expansion will enable us to expand our surgical specialties — such as spine and orthopedic surgeries — and offer patients access to nationally recognized specialists throughout UCHealth. The hospital’s master plan ensures the community will have the best care, close to home, for years to come,” UCHealth President and CEO Elizabeth B. Concordia said in the release.

Highlights of the first phase of construction include four new operating rooms and a new, six-story inpatient tower that will increase the 140-bed hospital’s capacity to 190, with room to grow to 320 beds. Initially, the tower will open with 36 new medical-surgical beds and 14 ICU beds, according to the release.

Phase 1 also includes construction of a six-level, 979-stall parking garage to accommodate hospital patients, visitors and staff.

Data provided in the release show in the five years from 2019 through 2024, Memorial Hospital North saw inpatient admissions increase 31%. Visits to the emergency department increased 25%, and the number of surgeries rose 53%.

“The new services and investments we are making in health care are exciting, but improvements in patient experience and safety — such as parking — are also important,” Cramer said.

Work will first begin on building the parking garage. Groundbreaking on that structure is planned to happen early next year and it is anticipated to be complete in 2027.

Construction on the patient tower is planned to begin in 2026. It is projected to open to patients in 2029.

The hospital expansion includes four more operating rooms planned in future phases, too. Memorial Hospital North will eventually have 18 total operating rooms. The project will expand kitchen and dining space, a laboratory, imaging services and surface parking. It will include space for 12 additional emergency department exam rooms and a renovated main lobby to incorporate the new tower.

This is the second major expansion at Memorial Hospital North, which opened in 2007 as a community hospital. Since 2012, the hospital has been a part of the UCHealth health care system.

In late 2018, the hospital expanded its emergency department and added operating rooms. A year later, it opened an addition that houses a birth center, pharmacy and oncology services.

The 81-acre campus also houses Children’s Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs, which opened in 2019.

Five years after it first opened, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs has seen overwhelming demand, far ahead of projections of use and need. More than 108,000 kids have been treated for small and large ailments alike, The Gazette reported in late September.

Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Southern Region President Greg Raymond previously said the local campus is always prepared to meet urgent needs in children’s health care, despite the sustained demand.

In a written statement Wednesday, Raymond said the children’s hospital system does not have immediate plans to expand in Colorado Springs.

“We continue to partner with our campus neighbors, UCHealth Memorial, to ensure Children’s Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs maintains the flexibility to expand in the future to meet the growing needs of our growing and evolving community,” Raymond said.