Construction is starting at Birmingham’s Grandview Medical Center on an expansion of its Emergency Department that is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

It’s one of several additions planned to cope with expanding demand, and the third time in nine years the hospital has increased bed capacity under the state’s regulations.

The expansion project will add 3,600-square-feet and 10 additional treatment rooms, bringing the total number to 32.

The medical center also is planning an inpatient bed expansion which is currently seeking regulatory approval.

This would add to the Women’s Center, relocate inpatient rehabilitation to a connected building on campus, and renovate space within the hospital to accommodate additional acute care beds.

Grandview CEO Daniel McKinney said all phases of the project will be completed in existing space on campus.

The proposed inpatient bed expansion project will occur in two phases, with the first adding postpartum beds to the hospital’s obstetrics unit.

The second phase will add 25 acute care beds on the 10th floor, after that space is vacated by the relocation of the hospital’s 17-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit. It will be moved to Grandview Physicians Plaza II, a 140,000-square foot building that opened on the Grandview campus in 2023. The plaza is expected to be fully-occupied by the end of 2025.

The expansions are being sought due to demand, according to the hospital. Emergency department visits have nearly doubled since the hospital’s opening to more than 44,000 last year. Newborn deliveries at the hospital have tripled since 2016, with more than 3,000 births last year.