Construction on UAB’s new Cooper Green Mercy Health facility has led to one current lane closure on 6th Ave. from 14th to 16th street in Birmingham and could lead to nighttime closures of all of 14th street later this summer according to Hannah Echols, a media representative for UAB.

Last month the project received two building permits totaling roughly $45 million for part of the new facility located on 16th Street and for the new Cooper Green parking deck that will be located on 6th Ave according to permit records from Southern Exposure Information Inc.

As the Lede previously reported representatives for UAB say the goal of the new facility is to expand services for the patients they serve which consists of many people that are financially struggling.

“We will be expanding services,” previously said David Randall, chief strategy officer for the UAB Health System and board president and CEO of the Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority. “This would include dental coverage and ophthalmology coverage. We continue to expand services in mental health and pain management. We’ll have dual therapy space as well including indoor and outdoor therapy spaces. We’re one of the only [therapy facilities] that have both indoor and outdoor space.”

The Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority was created under an agreement between the Jefferson County Commission and the UAB Health System, to manage the facility in April 2020. This authority and Jefferson County officials announced their plan for a new facility a year and a half later.