In yet another blockbuster hospital announcement for Baton Rouge—which continues to work to establish the city as a destination for health care services—Ochsner Health System announced plans this week to invest $100 million to develop a new clinic and “microhospital” at The Grove, the mixed-use development just off Interstate 10 near the Mall of Louisiana.

Spanning roughly 155,000 square feet over five stories, the medical office building will provide outpatient, primary care and speciality clinic services when it opens in about two years. It also will include a 30,000-square-foot microhospital—a 10-bed inpatient unit and surgical center that will be able to perform general, ENT, orthopedic, gynecology and urology surgeries.

The announcement suggests the New Orleans health care giant is aggressively going after new business in Baton Rouge.

“In a rapidly changing world of health care, it is essential to offer new models of care like the microhospital concept,” says Ochsner CEO Warner Thomas. “This is about demonstrating our long-term commitment to Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, Zachary, Iberville, and the patients and our teams who are proud to call every parish across the Baton Rouge area home.”

Thursday’s announcement coincided with the opening of the expanded Ochsner Baton Rouge Cancer Center, another major investment by the health care giant in the market. The facility is located on the campus of Ochsner Medical Center-Baton Rouge, Ochsner’s local acute care hospital on O’Neal Lane and Interstate 12.

“I’m thrilled,” Carmouche previously told Daily Report. “They make a great addition to the development. They fit the concept of the neighborhood, which is mixed use, and they bring an element that will supply people, who will create demand for hotels, apartments, restaurants. They bring more than just a health care facility.”

Less than a month ago, Provident ProtonCare announced it’s joining forces with local health care providers to bring an $85 million proton therapy center to the Baton Rouge Health District. Construction on the Louisiana ProtonCare Center is expected to begin next year, and the medical facility is projected to open in the fourth quarter of 2019. It will be built at the junction of Interstates 10 and 12.

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