Within the next few weeks, Lafayette General Medical Center will put final touches on its $52.5 million, 45,000-square-foot expansion that includes 13 new operating rooms. The project is part of LGMC's effort to become a Level II trauma center. Right now, the closest trauma center that serves Acadiana patients is in Baton Rouge. On Wednesday, construction continued inside the new corridors and surgical suites as LGMC personnel led news media representatives through the construction area. The medical center's new trauma elevator will take patients from the helipad on the roof directly to intensive care or surgery, they said.

The expansion will increase the number of beds from 31 to 45 in the emergency department, medical center spokesman Daryl Cetnar said.

LGMC will be the primary facility for severe treatment from the Atchafalaya Basin to the Texas/Louisiana state line

Lukaszeski said portions of the department are expected to be operational by June, pending approval by the state Department of Health and Hospitals.

Also included in the expansion project is the medical center's newly completed parking garage, which is shared with the nearby Heymann Performing Arts Center.

If it achieves a Level II status as a trauma center, LGMC will be the primary facility for severe treatment from the Atchafalaya Basin to the Texas/Louisiana state line.

"That's about 15,000 square miles of coverage," Cetnar said.