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NILES — The Spectrum Health Lakeland Board of Directors recently approved a $1.34 million investment to renovate the bariatric and orthopedic units at Spectrum Health Lakeland Niles Hospital. Construction began this month and will feature seven private rooms with large bathrooms, showers and bariatric toilets, an updated nurses’ station and upgraded mechanical systems.

Orthopedic surgeries, such as joint replacement, ligament repair and bone fractures, returned to the Niles hospital in 2018. Since then, surgeons have completed more than 163 procedures. Lakeland Orthopedics, located at 6 Longmeadow Village Drive, Suite 1 in Niles, also began offering expanded hours with a care team available to see patients five days a week.

Lakeland Niles Hospital remains the primary facility for all bariatric (weight loss) surgeries performed at Lakeland. In September 2019, the hospital was accredited as a Low Acuity Center under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, which ensures bariatric surgical patients participate in a multidisciplinary program to improve patient outcomes and long-term success. Since 2018, surgeons at the Lakeland Weight Loss Center have performed more robotic-assisted weight loss procedures than any other health system in west Michigan and northern Indiana, according to Spectrum Health representatives.

“Patients who undergo orthopedic or bariatric surgery often experience significant improvements in their quality of life,” said Dennis Disch, MD, chief medical officer/chief operating officer, Spectrum Health Lakeland Niles Hospital. “We continue to see an increased need for both services in Niles and the surrounding communities. This renovation project will allow us to offer high-tech modernizations and enhance the overall patient experience for patients needing to stay overnight following a surgical procedure.”

To date, community members have raised over $270,000 in support of the project. For more information, or to donate, visit spectrumhealthlakelandfoundation.org or call (269) 927-5145