ALLEN, Texas — Texas Health Resources, Austin Commercial and Allen city leaders today celebrated the “topping out” milestone for the major expansion project at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen.

The event marked the midway point of construction with the placing of the top structural steel beam.

The $68-million project, expected to open next spring, will add a new patient care tower with 75 medical/surgical beds, along with significant new perioperative space, two state-of-the-art operating suites and a second cardiac catheterization lab. In all, the new three-story structure will add more than 108,000 square feet of space to the hospital.

“By offering more services and additional hospital beds, this new expansion will help meet the needs of the growing Allen community for many years to come,” said Jared Shelton, FACHE, president of Texas Health Allen. “We are committed to improving the health of people in this area – where they work, live and play.”

The population of the hospital’s service area — which includes Allen, Lucas, Fairview, Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Wylie, Parker, Murphy and other surrounding Collin County cities — is already more than 425,000, with almost 90,000 new residents expected to move into the area in the next two years. The city of Allen has been ranked the 16th fastest-growing city in the nation, according to the U.S. Census.

With those growth projections and population numbers, Texas Health leaders said it’s time for the hospital to undergo a major expansion. Among other specialties, orthopedics, back and spine, sports medicine and cardiology services are already in high demand at the 68-bed hospital.

 “As we continue to increase outpatient accessibility and expand our physician network to accommodate the growth in the North Texas population, it’s important that we improve our hospitals to meet consumer expectations,” said Kirk King, Hospital Channel chief operating officer for Texas Health.