DECATUR - St. Mary's Hospital announced new construction plans Wednesday as part of its revitalization.

Administrator Kevin Kast, speaking to the Greater Decatur Chamber of Commerce monthly Business Breakfast, said the hospital plans to break ground on a trauma/emergency department in May, if funding is approved.

The estimated $17 million project would accommodate 40,000 patients per year, adding about 40 rooms in 35,000 square feet, Kast said.

He said the new department will let the hospital serve the Decatur area better.

"Nothing is more important to us than responding to the needs of this community," Kast said.

Once construction on the emergency department is completed, Kast said plans call for a $15 million expansion and remodeling of the hospital's first-floor entrance.

The remodeled first floor would contain a new lobby, gift shop, chapel and outpatient services, he said.

"It will essentially be a medical mall," Kast said.

The plans for new construction come more than a year after Kast took charge of the struggling hospital. It had gone more than five years without making a profit before reporting a 3 percent gain in the past year, Kast said.

"One year does not make a trend, but it is a good start," said Kast, whose last speech at a Chamber gathering was in September 2006, four months after taking over at St. Mary's.

Some projects, which a year ago Kast asked Chamber members to support, have started. Construction began this week on a $2.5 million comprehensive medical rehabilitation unit, Kast said.

Kast said St. Mary's had been falling behind crosstown rival Decatur Memorial Hospital in many areas when he stepped into the post.

"The fears of Decatur sliding into a one-hospital town were somewhat real," he said.

Now, Kast looks for a beneficial competition with DMH, helping to keep health care costs lower and improving the area's quality of life, he said.

DMH President and CEO Ken Smithmeier will speak at next month's Business Breakfast on Oct. 3.

Kast said St. Mary's plans to spend about $50 million on new services over the next three to four years.

"It's all to make certain that we have a world-class hospital at St. Mary's," Kast said. "We want to provide nothing but the finest at St. Mary's."

Chris Lusvardi can be reached at clusvardi@herald-review.com or 421-7972.