One new hospital facility done, one shows progress

Thursday, September 19, 2002
Work continues despite this morning's showers at the new Medical Office Building on the Community Hospital campus in McCook. The building should be fully enclosed next week and completed by January.

Remodeling at the Stinnette Building on West C in McCook is complete with everything from signs on the outside and touch-up work inside now done.

All that remains is the final paperwork, Community Hospital President Gary Bieganski told the board of directors at Wednesday's meeting.

The dialysis center is up and running, he said, and is operating at approximately 25 percent of capacity, or three mornings a week.

If ever needed, the facility is capable of running two shifts a day, six days a week., Bieganski said. The remaining units in the building, owned by the hospital, are either in use or are reserved for future use, he said.

The hospital's other construction project, the Medical Office Building, is running ahead of schedule and should be complete by January. The project was 55 percent complete as of the end of August, Bieganski said, and the building should be weather-tight by the end of next week.

All of the new building's basic utilities are in place and distribution throughout the building will begin next week. At the same time, work will continue on the entrance -- which will now face west -- as well as the parking lot in front of the new 20,000 square-foot building. Once complete, the McCook Clinic will occupy 17,000 square feet.

The remaining 3,000 square feet will be used for meeting rooms, Bieganski said. A variety of out-patient services will move into the current McCook Clinic office, likely by March 2003, he said.

Also at Wednesday's meeting, Bieganski told the board that the "Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness" system is in effect using a $7,500 grant.

Safety officer Dari Olson is implementing a communication plan using e-mail, fax and phone lines to reduce response time to one hour or less. Jessica Bortner, RN, performance improvement coordinator, presented the Error Prevention Report, which makes sure hospital's are justified in their billing and coding correctly; the Patient Satisfaction Reports, which ranked high in both hospital and home health care; and the Outcome-based Quality Improvement Reports, which will serve as "report cards" on hospitals, Bieganski said.

The annual meeting for Community Hospital Association Membership is set for Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. in the hospital's meeting rooms, followed by the annual meeting Sole Member Community Hospital Health Foundation.

The board also approved the following medical staff privileges:

- Appointment of consulting medical staff privileges to Aamir Hameed, MD, Kearney, cardiology; and Scott Coastworth, MD, Lincoln, cardiology;

- Appointment of allied health staff privileges for Corey Meisenbach, APRN, and Amy Shipman, APNP, both of Lincoln, nurse practitioners;

- Reappointment of consulting medical staff privileges for Vishwajeth Bhoopalam, MD, Lincoln, cardiology; Vaughan Bowen, MD, Hastings, otolaryngology; James Bunker, MD, North Platte, dermatology, Christopher Caudill, MD, Lincoln, cardiology; Paul Dietze, MD, Hastings, ophthalmology; Morry Olenick, MD, Thornton, Colo., plastic surgery;

- Reappointment of courtesy medical staff privileges for Craig Bartruff, MD, Gothenburg, emergency room;

- Reappointment of allied health staff privileges for Carlene Keller, MS, McCook, psychology; Janice Mathews, APRN, Lincoln, nurse practitioner; Christy Relph, PTA, McCook, physical therapy assistant; Paul Sheets, PT, McCook, physical therapist; Charmi Townsend, PTA, McCook, physical therapy assistant; Angelique Pritchett, MD, Hastings, family practice.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: