Alton Memorial Hospital is constructing a new three-story, 89,000-square-foot tower that will include 76 private rooms, a lobby and registration area, a pharmacy, therapy rooms and lab services. Work began in March 2008 and is slated to be completed and ready to open early in 2010. The primary focus of the project is to consolidate and relocate the hospital's existing double patient rooms into a modern facility with private rooms with a patient-centered design. The major features include canted private rooms with integral family areas, a decentralized nursing concept and a direct connection to existing hospital clinical areas. The new bed tower will be called the Duncan Wing. A major element to the project is the creation of a main lobby and corridor that organizes and simplifies the movement of patients and visitors upon their arrival to the hospital.