FMOL Health | Our Lady of Lake broke ground Tuesday on a $59 million expansion of Our Lady of the Lake St. Elizabeth Hospital in Gonzales, marking a major investment in the health system’s Ascension Parish campus as it responds to the area’s growing population.
The new three-story 71,000-square-foot building will house women’s primary care, cardiology services, and other specialties—all with diagnostic imaging capabilities—as well as outpatient pharmacy and laboratory services.
The facility will also include a fresh facade, a newly designed shared main lobby and a second-floor connection that will link the new building to the existing space. The building will also include two new elevators, potential space for retail and coffee kiosks and expanded campus parking for patients and visitors.
The 57-bed acute care hospital in Gonzales currently provides emergency, inpatient, surgical, diagnostic, specialty and outpatient care and handles about 32,000 emergency room visits a year. The hospital has served the community for more than 50 years and has been an integral part of the FMOL Health System for more than a quarter-century.
“Ascension Parish is the fastest-growing community in Louisiana and with this historic investment, FMOL Health is ensuring the people of this area have access to world-class care close to home,” FMOL Health President and CEO E.J. Kuiper said in a statement.
Arkel Constructors is delivering the project, which includes demolition, renovation, site work and general construction. Construction is estimated to be completed in early 2028.
“This project signals continued momentum for FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake St. Elizabeth, where generations of families have received care for the last half-century,” said Chuck Spicer, president of FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake, in a statement. “As Ascension Parish continues to grow, we are growing with you.”
The project is one of several major investments underway across FMOL Health’s regional footprint.
Among those projects is a planned Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute in Baton Rouge. FMOL Health recently acquired the former Bone and Joint Clinic property for the institute, part of a $70 million investment aimed at expanding access to cancer care across the Capital Region, Louisiana, and the Gulf South.
FMOL Health is also planning an emergency department upgrade in Baton Rouge. The St. Elizabeth medical office building, cancer institute and emergency department project represent a combined investment of about $178 million and are expected to open in 2028.
