Le Bonheur Children's Hospital unveiled plans this month for a $37.6 million expansion of its Heart Institute that when completed will give it a dedicated 31-bed cardiovascular unit.

The two-story expansion will attach 70,500-square-feet on the west side of its hospital at the corner of Poplar Avenue and Dunlap.

There will be 10 additional beds in its Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit for a total of 20 beds. The increased space also will create room for an 11-bed step-down cardiac unit. A new MRI-guided hybrid catheterization lab also is being added, for a total of three.

Construction is scheduled to begin this year.

Since 2015 the Heart Institute has added 19 new cardiologists to handle patient growth. Last year it evaluated and treated 387 inpatients.