By james art 
Baton Rouge General has big plans for growth in Livingston Parish.
The medical center announced plans this week to open a community hospital in Denham Springs on Juban Road at Interstate 12. The 40,000-square-foot hospital is still in the planning stages with a groundbreaking planned for a 2025 start and a 2027 opening .
“When we opened in Ascension, we had patients from Livingston Parish going to our Ascension facility,” says Baton Rouge CEO Edgardo Tenreiro Daily report. “Why don’t you bring it to them? We did some marketing research and about 60 percent of the patients would prefer to have a general facility in Baton Rouge there.”
Denham Springs Hospital will include a 14-bed emergency department, a 12-bed inpatient hospital, outpatient services including imaging and laboratory work, and physician practices. It will have similar features to other Baton Rouge locations with some changes, Tenreiro says. Like the Ascension Parish facility, Denham Springs Hospital will have primary care offices designed so that patients can be independent using their electronic devices, reducing time in the waiting room.
Tenreiro says Baton Rouge General has been able to buy more land in Livingston Parish than in Ascension, leaving plenty of room for growth. Once the hospital starts serving patients, the team can determine what specialties to add, considering areas such as obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and ENT, Tenreiro says.