Rockwood Clinic PS, of Spokane, is in the process of moving eight of its specialty practices from their former locations in the Providence Sacred Heart Doctors Building.

Providence Health Care canceled Rockwood's leases in its properties, effective June 30, following the acquisition of the large Spokane physicians group in January by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems Inc.

Rockwood's specialty practice moves will cost in excess of $1 million altogether, and will involve setting up at temporary locations the practice groups, which had been using a total of 68,000 square feet of floor space in the Providence Sacred Heart Doctors Building, says Kevin Sweeny, CEO of Rockwood Clinic. Currently, Rockwood has leased about 25,000 square feet of space in various locations for the eight practices, and will use operating suites in Deaconess Medical Center for outpatient surgeries, Sweeny says.

Ultimately, those practices may all be moved to the Deaconess Medical Office Building, at 801 W. Fifth, on the Deaconess campus, says Deaconess CEO William Gilbert. Community Health Systems, which owns Deaconess and that office building, plans later to complete unfinished portions of the third, fourth, and fifth floors of the 10-floor doctor's building to provide more space.

The moves of the Rockwood specialty practices will affect about 100 employees, including 35 doctors, physician's assistants, and nurse practitioners. In addition, numerous pieces of medical equipment and devices will be moved, some of which will have to be recalibrated by specialists, Sweeny says.

The Rockwood OB-GYN center already has relocated to the Deaconess Medical Office Building. At the end of June, Rockwood's Plastic Surgery Center, General Surgery-Weight Loss Surgery Center, and Multispecialty Surgical Group all will move to offices on the third, fourth and fifth floors of that building.

Also at the end of June, the Rockwood Digestive Health Center will move to 208 W. Fifth, where it will occupy the building that formerly housed the Spokane Eye Clinic. Rockwood's Urology Center will move to its Renal Medical Building, located at 610 S. Sherman, and the Rockwood Heart Center will move to 3104 S. Regal, where Group Health formerly operated a clinic.

In addition to remodeling the space at the Deaconess Medical Office Building, Community Health Systems is updating four currently unused operating suites in Deaconess Medical Center to be used as an ambulatory surgery center. Prior to now, Deaconess Medical Center has been using 12 of its 16 available general operating rooms, Gilbert says. It also has two specialty surgical suites, he says.