Hospital will have many advances
Staff writer
When the new Hillsboro Community Hospital opens, probably in early 2012, it will provide numerous advantages compared with the existing hospital, Chief Executive Officer Michael Ryan said Thursday.
“Health care is very different than it was 50 years ago,” he said.
Outpatient care occupies a bigger portion of hospitals’ mission now. With that in mind, HCH will have larger and more convenient physical therapy, labratory, and radiography departments.
“It’s kind of a maze to get back to lab and x-ray (at the current hospital),” employee and emergency medical technician Wendy McCarty said.
The hospital will add programs with the new facility. Cardiac rehabilitation will help heart attack patients regain their strength, and an ultrasound unit will rid the hospital of the need to wait for tests, Ryan said. The hospital currently contracts with an outside company for ultrasound work, but patients may have to wait for the unit to come to town.
Having a new facility will make it easier to recruit and retain quality physicians, nurses, and technicians, Ryan said. It will also make Hillsboro more attractive to businesses and families looking to relocate.
The new hospital’s location, at the intersection of U.S. 56 and Industrial Road, will improve accessibility and allow more parking.
“We’re really landlocked here,” Ryan said of the current location, “and we don’t have adequate parking for employees, patients, and visitors.”
The inpatient wing will have 11 beds, all private rooms, each with a bathroom. Two rooms will feature wider doors and bathroom facilities for obese patients, Ryan said. The plan also allows the possibility of adding four inpatient rooms.
The nurses’ station will have visibility to the inpatient wing and the emergency department, which has four care areas.
The new hospital will also feature energy-saving measures. One energy-saver will be using four-pipe heating and cooling rather than a two-pipe system. That will allow one room to be heated or cooled without affecting the entire hospital, Ryan said.
Groundbreaking will be Dec. 14. J.E. Dunn Construction Company of Kansas City, Mo., is the general contractor for construction. Subcontractor bids have not been awarded yet.