Lexington Medical Center’s footprint as a healthcare provider will grow in 2020.

That was the message imparted by Michael Greeley, LMC’s vice president of operations. He spoke at the Greater Cayce-West Columbia Chamber Breakfast Tuesday on the hospital’s West Columbia campus.

LMC’s new 10-story North Tower opened March 26. It added 192 beds, 16  state-of-the-art labor delivery recovery rooms, 20 neo-natal Intensive Care Units and eight new operating rooms. The project also included a new energy plant and a 950-vehicle parking garage.

Greeley said LMC employs 7,166 and spent $107 million locally in building costs on the new facility, and $150 million in the state.

He also said LMC’s world headquarters is in West Columbia and “all of our decisions are made right here.”

In addition to the main hospital expansion, LMC is building large new structures in Northeast Columbia and in Chapin. A new urgent care operation opened a week ago at Saluda Pointe in Lexington.

But, said Greeley, expansion is not the only thing.

“Patient satisfaction is very important to us,” said Greeley. He said LMC ranks in the top 10 in the country among hospitals for patient satisfaction according the the Press Ganey survey. LMC’s open heart surgery grade received three stars and it’s in the top 10 for stroke care.

LMC, Greeley said, is one of the Best Places to Work in the state. He also said the hospital received a safety grade of “A” in the fall of 2019.

In 2020, LMC anticipates an Average Daily Census of 422 patients, up from 407 in 2019, Greeley said as he displayed a graphic. It expects more than 35,000 admissions this year and more than 27,000 surgeries. In addition to medical information, Greeley said that 50,000 vehicles-a-day pass LMC. So the hospital invested in an adaptive traffic camera system in conjunction with the Town of Lexington and the City of West Columbia to help alleviate congestion.