OKLAHOMA CITY - Renderings from Perkins+Will show the new eight-story patient tower with construction slated to begin later this year at the OU Medical Center complex.

The estimated 550,000-square-foot building is planned to be connected to the existing building on the north side where the current emergency room parking is at 700 NE 13.

Two stories higher than the original OU Medical patient tower, the building will include a basement and will function as the hospitals' new entrance.

Included in the proposed building are 144 beds and 32 operating rooms, but designers say they are still in the early stages.

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