The newest section of an area hospital will be officially opened this weekend.

The ribbon cutting ceremony of University Medical Center’s East Tower will take place from 10 a.m. until noon on Saturday, March 24th. The tower is located at 602 Indiana Avenue.

The $46 million East Tower, which took around 8,000 tons of concrete, 23 football fields of sheetrock, and enough studs to build a wall from UMC to Wolfforth, will open to patients during the week of April 2nd.

Facilities included in the East Tower are a new Family Birth Center, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and a Family Care Unit. More than 80 photographs of children decorate the walls, many of them former patients or children of UMC staff.

“UMC is Lubbock’s only public hospital, and this new facility belongs to each of us,” said Dr. Mike Ragain, UMC chief medical officer. “We’d like to invite the Lubbock community to see this facility and the tremendous services it will provide our patients.”

Self-guided tours will be allowed on Saturday, and UMC staff will be on hand to answer any questions. The ceremony will include UMC President and CEO David Allison, U.S. Congressman Randy Neugebauer, members of the UMC Board of Managers, and the musical group Higher Impact.

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