Hospital board addresses expansion

A proposed Roosevelt General Hospital expansion project would include building a new emergency room and a wing of private rooms.

Discussions during Tuesday’s hospital board meeting also included expanding its medical/surgical and intensive care units to be self-contained.

Cooper Medical Building representatives spent Tuesday meeting with department heads to gain their input for expansion. A preliminary drawing was shown to board members, outlining the proposed additions to be added in the future.

“It’s a comprehensive look at all of the needs of the hospital,” said Darren Miller, CMB Architect.

The plans call for creating an emergency department with a separate entrance for walk-ins, and a covered ambulance entrance, which would allow the radiology department to expand into the existing emergency department.

Officials also said plans call for the medical/surgical unit, intensive care unit to be standalone units with each department having nurses station and bathrooms. The ICU and surgical unit would have back-to-back nurses stations in order to interact and better utilize the space.

Built on a bare bones budget in the beginning, many areas of the hospital have had limited space. This has caused many departments to outgrow what limited space they have, said Eva Stevens, chief financial officer.

“(The hospital) was built on absolute bare minimums,” Stevens said.

Other contributing factors for the expansion include updating codes that have changed since the hospital was built in 2001 and anticipated growth for the area, Stevens said.

“We’re looking at two to three years once the construction starts,” Stevens said.

Cost for the project has been undetermined due to the project being in the preliminary stages. The next step will be finalizing a floor plan, determining what order the project phases will be and the estimated cost, according to CMB representatives.

In other business:

• Revenue for the month of December was down. Stevens stated the drop was more than likely due to the holiday season, with doctors being away from their practices.

• Six nurses from the hospital will be attending classes in Lubbock to obtain certification in critical care.

• Applicants for nursing director have been narrowed down to four candidates.

• The Hospital Based Rural Health Clinic is scheduled to open Feb. 24.