By Tara DeRock Mahoney
Senior Staff Writer

Morgan Memorial officials confirmed this week that they have purchased an eight-tenths of an acre residential lot adjacent to the hospital for use in a future expansion.
“We closed last week,” said hospital CEO H.D. Cannington in an interview on Tuesday.
The hospital did not acquire any debt in purchasing the $100,000 piece of property, opting instead to use operational cash to pay for the land, said Cannington.
The deal has been in the works for some time, and Morgan Hospital Authority Chairman Terry Evans said that kudos are due to retiring board member Jim Markley, formerly head of Strategic Planning for the hospital, and Calvin Welch, the board member who identified the property and worked out the acquisition for the hospital.
“Jim Markley…has been head of Strategic Planning for several years, and he’s just done a fantastic job,” said Evans. “Calvin…has been working on this [deal] tirelessly—he’s been great. We’re just glad to have the land.”
A concept plan currently under development by the hospital could see a two-story hospital built on land adjacent to the current structure on North Main Street in Madison. The current hospital will remain open during construction of any new building, say administrators, and probably be razed later.
The new lot on Cornwall Street could initially be used for parking, but its final incarnation won’t likely be known for a while.
Morgan Memorial officials seem to be concentrating on plans to re-build a new, state-of-the-art facility in the same location as the current hospital, after several different alternate locations for a future facility in Madison fell through in recent years.