CLEVELAND, Ohio – The MetroHealth System on Monday will break ground on the centerpiece of its $946-million transformation plan, an 11-story 264-bed hospital on its main campus on West 25th Street in Cleveland.

“I think it is that tangible, important milestone that demonstrated to our community, our neighborhood, our city, that the dreams and plans that have been going on for years are going to take place,” said Dr. Akram Boutros, president and CEO of MetroHealth.

The transformation project kicked off in 2014, and already has included the expansion of the system’s Critical Care Pavilion and the construction of a new parking garage, among other things. Later, a new central utility plant will be built.

The groundbreaking ceremony is a private event.

Construction of the hospital is expected to be complete in 2022, and the first patients will be seen in early 2023. Once the new hospital is operational, demolition of MetroHealth’s iconic towers will begin.

Boutros remains confident the project will be completed on time. He expects construction of the new hospital to move quickly, beginning with the steel frame.

“It’s very much like an erector set and will be complete within nine months of the first steel beams going up,” Boutros said.

He called the new hospital “the most visible part” of the project and said it will be as identifiable from I-71 as the existing patient towers.

“Lots of aesthetics were put in place to make sure this becomes a Cleveland-only building,” Boutros said.

“This is going to be a gateway into Cleveland,” said Tina Arundel, manager of public and media relations for MetroHealth.

MetroHealth plans to create a “hospital in a park” by converting some existing buildings on its 52-acre campus into green space. A timeline for that piece of the project is still being worked out.

Boutros wants the transformation project to spur revitalization of MetroHealth’s West Side neighborhood. The hospital system has worked with residents, local leaders and community partners from the outset to design the new hospital and get input on how it could best serve the neighborhood.

MetroHealth plans to build housing for interns and residents across the street from the hospital campus and will host financial literacy and job training centers, as well as a local business incubator focused on Hispanic businesses. And the hospital wants to work with different organizations to establish affordable, low-income housing near the campus.

“It’s going to be a health-system-sponsored eco-district that will address all of the needs of the community,” Boutros said. “We feel that we have a higher calling than medicine. Our calling is health. To address more than the medical care, we really have to address the health of the community.”

The CEO envisions the West Side becoming a destination with an identity like Gordon Square, Ohio City and Tremont.