Ord hospital plans becoming reality as groundbreaking nears

Even if work on the Valley County Health System's $19.5 million new hospital had begun the day of the May 13 election that allowed it to go forward, it might not have been fast enough.

"On May 14, we had people looking out there to see if there was going to be earthmovers," said Larry Schrage, the hospital's chief executive officer.

Even though the site of the new hospital -- just west of the current one -- has remained a grassy field since then, the hospital's officials said they've been hard at work planning the new building.

A blocked-out schematic of the plans will be finished this week, and Schrage said the final design is scheduled to be approved next month as the hospital moves toward an Oct. 7 groundbreaking.

Schrage and other hospital officials said the new 67,000-square-foot building is being designed primarily around a model centered on family care.



That's why each patient room -- to become private for the first time -- will also have enough space for families, too, and plans also include sub-waiting areas for families.

"Families are wanting to become more and more involved in the patients' care," said Bethanne Kunz, the hospital's director of marketing and public relations.

Another priority was simplifying the hospital's organization. Kunz described the current building's layout as a maze of confusing hallways and scattered departments, thanks largely to the 40-year process of gradually adding on new departments and technology as they became necessary.

"Nothing really flows," Kunz said. "Everything's just been piecemealed in where we can fit it."

Schrage said the new hospital will have a single main hallway, known right now as "Main Street," from which everything branches, along with a central rest area, including a chapel, known as the "Town Square."

The new hospital will also include as part of one building the physicians' clinic and business office, both of which are currently in their own buildings.



But the biggest change, Schrage and Kunz said, will be the sheer amount and efficiency of the new space. The current hospital is 34,000 square feet, plus the clinic and nursing home, which will stay where it is.

It just isn't enough for the hospital's growing offerings, said Kara Fischer, president of the hospital's board of trustees.

"In our old facility, we've completely run out of space," Fischer said. "So we wanted to make sure we have enough room for all the programs we have."

A $21.2 million bond issue for the hospital was approved, 1,138 to 969, by Valley County voters in May (The additional $1.7 million will be used to pay interest while the building is under construction).

The hospital plans to repay bonds through Medicare reimbursement and increased revenue, rather than tax dollars.

Despite the $19.5 million price tag and vast jump in space, the new building's planners said they're making sure the building is functional first and falls within its budget.

"We do not want a hospital that's got a little waterfall and a fireplace in a patient room," Schrage said.

The hospital's design process has been led by TSP Architects and has included the board, top administrators and department heads.

Those department heads have routinely taken plans back to their departments for review and input, Kunz said.

Fischer said she's excited at the collaborative effort.

"It's going to be everybody's project," she said. "Everybody has had some ownership of it.”