Sixty-five years ago, an Italian immigrant who started a snack foods empire by selling hot peanuts on the street began to think about how to honor his wife, who had died in 1938. That celebrated industrialist, Amedeo Obici, decided to establish a lasting memorial to his beloved Louise, one that he hoped would not only honor her memory but also change lives in Suffolk, the community they had adopted and loved.

The resulting Obici Charitable Trust financed construction of Louise Obici Memorial Hospital, which stood for decades on North Main Street in the place where an apartment complex is now in the final stages of completion. That trust also helped finance construction in 2002 of the new Obici Hospital, which is located on Godwin Boulevard, and it continues to do magnificent work in the health care field through the Obici Healthcare Foundation.

Ever since the new hospital was built, the pace of its growth has seemed to increase.

In 2006, Obici Hospital merged with Sentara Healthcare. In 2010, the hospital added a three-story, 63,480-square-foot wing, which includes all private beds serving orthopedic, medical and surgical patients and increases the hospital’s bed capacity to 168 beds.

And now, Sentara officials have announced that a new building will be erected on the campus by next fall, just 15 years after the move to Godwin Boulevard.

The hospital is “morphing into a destination,” Dr. Steve Julian, president of the hospital, said last week.

The new, 20,000-square-foot medical office building will be situated between the hospital and ambulatory surgery center. Construction is set to begin next month. The building will house Sentara Family Medicine Suffolk, an occupational health practice and a walk-in clinic.

Other changes are afoot, as well. The current administrative offices will move from the existing medical office building into the basement of the patient care facility, opening space for the cardiology practice on the ground floor of the medical office building and improving access for both cardiology and oncology patients.

And a new valet service is already helping patients — especially the elderly and recovering ones — avoid a long walk across the parking lot to get to the hospital.

Amedeo Obici would likely be amazed at the true extent of the memorial he left for his wife and the incredible difference it continues to make for the people of Suffolk.