Hospital begins looking at expansion

The Elmore Medical Center Board of Trustees has begun a process that could lead, eventually, to an $18 million expansion of the hospital, perhaps as early as 2007.

Last week the trustees accepted a recommendation from the board's Planning and Building Committee to continue with the Facility Master Planning Process.

As part of that process the board has been looking at the current hospital facilities and services and its future needs.

The original hospital was built in 1955 and remodeled ten years ago.

"The remodeling addressed our short-term needs," hospital administrator Greg Maurer said, "but we decided it was time to step back and look at the long-term needs."

Maurer said "we decided there's still some life left in this building," but in order to meet the future needs of the community, and to better organize the departments and services to make it easier for patients to access those services, some building expansion would be necessary.

The Facility Master Plan Oversight Committee set up by the board determined that the hospital would need to expand an additional 25,000 square feet from its current size of just under 38,500 square feet.

Although everything at this point is in the preliminary stage, Maurer said the board was looking at land to the east of the current building for the new addition.

An analysis of the existing building also has indicated it will require about $4.1 million in facility system renovations and upgrades "in the near future" to keep the building operations.

In addition, the committee noted, "the current facility design and layout does not allow for improvement to operational efficiences and patient service accomodations."

Elmore Medical Center has retained the services of American Health Facilities Development, LLC (AHFD) to evaluate the hospital's existing healthcare systems and develop an architectural concept to address long-term strategic developments for the hospital district. Greg Maurer, hospital Administrator noted, "This planning process is very important for the hospital and the community, and providing the community with information and soliciting their input will be essential."

The design concept accommodates service growth in ambulatory and outpatient services, emergency department services, specialty clinic services, physician clinic services, diagnostic services (lab and radiology), surgical services, obstetrics and pediatrics, and maintains the current level of inpatient services.

"This extensive review (of a possible expansion) identified a number of opportunities and a few challenges for Elmore Medical Center and the hospital district," Maurer said.

Under the concept plan being considered, the hospital would stay at a maximum of 25 beds. That's because federal funding programs help supplement services for rural hospitals of 25 beds or less. But Maurer said the plan envisions possibly changing those beds from semi-private rooms to private rooms, "since that's what most patients appear to prefer," based on the constant feedback surveys the hospital does throughout the year.

The board also will take a hard look at the Long-Term Care Unit.

"The architectural design concept also represents a changing role in skilled nursing care services (nursing home), from a primary provider of services to a support role for elder care services," Maurer said.

The 40-year-old facility is designed for patients needing extensive care, but Maurer noted the nursing home industry and the baby boomer generation are moving more and more toward differing forms of assisted living facilities. "This building issue is going to force us to take up that issue," Maurer said, "and we'll be looking at all our options and asking for input from the public."

In fact, the entire process will begin with a series of public meetings beginning early next year to solicit public input.

At first, Maurer envisions presenting the various options the hospital has to a series of small "focus groups," to help define the scope of the public debate over expansion, and then by mid-year begin making more detailed presentations to the general public, seeking input and support.

"The important, bold step, is we need to put things on the table for the public's consideration. We don't believe we have all the answers yet. We want to hear from the public," Maurer said.

The hospital board wants to not only expand patient services (and wants the public to help determine what services should be expanded), but also wants to organize the departments better, so patients don't have to wander through what many call the "rat's maze" to get to a service, such as radiology.

By the end of next year, the board hopes to be able to summarize the public's comments and present a design plan that would meet the needs the public desires.

Maurer said the hospital's analysis has targeted an expansion of $18 million.

"That's reasonable, and scaled back from the original concept" to meet realistic budget capabilities, he said.

Some of that cost would come from grants, some from the hospital's reserve fund, and some from a bond issue.

Maurer said while the board might go to a bond by the end of next year, more realistically it will probably come up before the voters early in 2007, possibly at the February election date.

American Health Facilities Development, LLC (AHFD) and the oversight planning committee also conducted an assessment of major medical equipment that would be needed in the future.

"This proactive planning process allows Elmore Medical Center and the Hospital District to anticipate and prepare for changing consumer preferences in healthcare services, and to prepare for growth in the district," Maurer said of the process now underway.