PORTLAND (AP) — Maine Medical Center has received final state approval for a $40 million expansion.

The Portland hospital plans to add five new operating rooms and create a special cardiac operating room for the most critically ill patients.

The 40,000-square-foot expansion will help ease a space crunch. Existing operating rooms are used at a 94 percent rate, substantially higher than national averages.

Surgery chief Dr. Brad Cushing told the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1dHpCoI ) the project will allow the hospital to better serve residents of Maine.

Tuesday’s approval from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services comes with some conditions. They include reports from the hospital on improvements in quality and outcomes for services affected by the project.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2015.