OAHS Hospital Replacement Project Update
Well it’s been almost a year since we broke ground and what a difference a year can make! Back on August 25th, 2008 we officially started our two-year project with a small celebration and a few shovels in the ground. Today we are about halfway through one of the largest building projects in the history of Big Stone County – A 20 million dollar - 50,000 square foot hospital replacement project!We started planning and building this project with a few simple but critical goals that we felt must be achieved. Those goals are:
- to create a hospital for those we serve that provides for a Healing Environment for our patients, family and visitors,
- to enhance the Quality and Safety for all those involved in the care process,
- design a structure that promotes staff effectiveness and efficiency while enhancing our ability to retain and recruit high quality healthcare professionals,
- to improve customer parking and last but most importantly to improve and integrate our Care Systems.
I am pleased to share that we are accomplishing those very goals as we move forward with our project!
To give a quick review, our hospital replacement project was designed to be built over 24 months with four separate phases; we did this to ensure we could keep all medical services in operation while constructing our new hospital on the same campus.
PHASE 1 - started by building our new employee parking lot off campus to allow room for the new inpatient building that takes up most of the old employee parking. Our Purchasing Department was moved to the lower level of the outreach building and a portion of Northridge Residence was remodeled to provide for Laundry services to be moved from the hospital campus to the Northridge campus. This phase is complete.
PHASE 2 - consists of the new inpatient building, temporary surgical room, pharmacy, ambulance garage, Heli-pad and partial trauma center. This portion of the new building started with a very large hole in the ground where the previous employee parking lot and a portion of the old hospital (the old OB wing) had to be torn down. Phase 2 covers approximately 30,000 square feet which includes both the upper and lower levels. We are close to completing this phase and are planning to move our medical and surgical units from the old building to the new building on or around October 9th, 2009.
PHASE 2 - consists of the new inpatient building, temporary surgical room, pharmacy, ambulance garage, Heli-pad and partial trauma center. This portion of the new building started with a very large hole in the ground where the previous employee parking lot and a portion of the old hospital (the old OB wing) had to be torn down. Phase 2 covers approximately 30,000 square feet which includes both the upper and lower levels. We are close to completing this phase and are planning to move our medical and surgical units from the old building to the new building on or around October 9th, 2009.
The transition from Phase 2 to Phase 3 of the project will have several departments move; some will be temporary moves and others will be permanent. Once those department moves have been completed, the contractors can begin on the next part of the building to be torn down. One of the more noticeable moves will be our lab department. Because their permanent location is part of phase three, they will need to move out of the part of the hospital that will be torn down to a temporary location. That area will be the old Pharmacy, Hospital and Home Health areas. The hospital business office, medical records, hospice, home health, foundation and admissions/front desk will also be moving as a part of the transition from phase 2 to phase 3.
With any construction of this size we know it is important to minimize the impact of these temporary transitions to our patients/families/visitors and we apologize for any inconvenience that may be experienced as we transition through this next year. There will be additional signage in place before we start this next transition to assist everyone in getting to their destination and, of course, everyone at OAHS will be ready to assist in any way we can.
PHASE 3 - begins with the demolition of most of the old hospital. The only part that will remain operational during phase 3 is the area south of the hospital nurses station starting at patient room #306 and south. That is the area that looks like an upside-down T and is the area circled in the picture below. This area will be the connecting link to the new inpatient building and so those who are needing acute inpatient care or visiting someone who is in the new inpatient building will need to enter through the temporary entrance. We will have signs marking this entrance as well but for those familiar with the hospital, these are the blue double doors on the south end of the upside-down T that take you to the solarium area. For more pictures you can go on the internet at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rickash1958/ and find the many photos we have taken.
PHASE 4, the final phase, will be a short 1 to 2 month phase and will bring the final project all together with a single common entrance and removal of the last part of the 1952 building and create an expanded patient and visitor parking area. We estimate completion of the total project to be in early 2011.
We are offering community tours and would like to extend an offer to anyone or any group that would like to see how their new hospital is progressing. We have regular tours every Friday at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm; just call Kristi at 320.839.4126 and let her know you are coming. Fridays are the preferred day as most of the contractors have cleaned up their work areas; however, if Fridays do not work please let Kristi know and we will see about alternative dates and times.
I would like to end on a couple of important notes. First, this project is the result of many people coming together and focusing their talents, skills and time toward creating a 21st century healthcare center. It is through the leadership and commitment of OAHS board members, managers and physicians who have continued to steer and keep us focused that this project is successful.
I also think it is important to recognize all the people who have contributed to the hospital replacement project capital campaign. Without the support and dedication of so many this project would not have been a reality. The campaign has been extremely successful and has raised just over 1.9 million dollars over this last year! I think that speaks loudly of the people in our area that want to have high quality healthcare here when it is needed and of the steering committee and supporting people who have lead the campaign. Thank You!
As we go through the project, we anticipate there will be many questions; you may contact me at ashr@oahs.us or by calling 320-839-4127. We have also created an email address specific to for the project at projectupdate@oahs.us . We thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm of this most important project.
I would like to end on a couple of important notes. First, this project is the result of many people coming together and focusing their talents, skills and time toward creating a 21st century healthcare center. It is through the leadership and commitment of OAHS board members, managers and physicians who have continued to steer and keep us focused that this project is successful.
I also think it is important to recognize all the people who have contributed to the hospital replacement project capital campaign. Without the support and dedication of so many this project would not have been a reality. The campaign has been extremely successful and has raised just over 1.9 million dollars over this last year! I think that speaks loudly of the people in our area that want to have high quality healthcare here when it is needed and of the steering committee and supporting people who have lead the campaign. Thank You!
As we go through the project, we anticipate there will be many questions; you may contact me at ashr@oahs.us or by calling 320-839-4127. We have also created an email address specific to for the project at projectupdate@oahs.us . We thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm of this most important project.
Rick Ash, CEO