The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma broke ground last month on a $7 million expansion of the W.W. Hastings Hospital.

The project will add 27,000 square-feet for patient care and a 200-space parking lot to the facility. Work is expected to be completed in July 2012.

"This is the culmination of several ideas that have been floating around for more than a year," Dr. Charles Grim, the chief operating officer of Hastings and the senior director of the Cherokee Nation's health services, told The Tulsa World "They've just moved to the forefront since the tribe assumed control of Hastings in 2008."

The tribe runs the hospital under a self-determination contract. The facility sees about 270,000 outpatient visits and 13,000 inpatient days each year, the paper reported.

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Indian Hospital set to expand (The Tulsa World 11/21)