The Greene County Medical Center’s public health building was torn down one year ago this month to make way for the 51,000-square foot expansion project.
Since then, the project is about 60 percent completed with mostly interior work left. Chief Executive Officer Carl Behne says the walkway, a few eaves and some final touch ups on the roof are left on the exterior. Most of the interior work that’s left is installing furnishings, fixtures and equipment (FF&E). $1.9 million of the $22.5 million budget is spent on FF&E.
The addition will house a new emergency room department, along with a new radiology, respiratory and laboratory departments and a pharmacy station. Details includes 25 acute care beds, which is the maximum number allowed for Critical Access Hospitals. Of those 25 beds, five will be private rooms with private bathrooms, two private special care units with bathrooms, two labor/delivery/recovery/postpartum rooms with bathrooms, eights rooms that can be used as double rooms if needed and eight private pre- and post surgery rooms.
Weather played a huge factor in delaying the project initially last August, and pushing the project back by 90 days, but Behne points out that waiting on availability of construction crews with their contractor, Woodruff Construction, was another factor.
“A lot of the crews in Iowa that we’re partnering and working with through Woodruff Construction are doing other projects in Iowa (and) outside of Iowa, so trying to coordinate all of that on top of when weather is hitting and not hitting is a challenge. I don’t envy the team with Woodruff (Construction) but they’ve done a nice job of working with HGA our architects.”
Another area of concern was leveling the ground before any cement could be poured on the east side of the campus. Caleb Stockton with Stockton Facility Management Services says due to those setbacks, they had to use $400,000 of the $900,000 contingency part of the budget. Behne notes that it also altered construction plans to start building from the south and working north instead of the other way around.
“The plan was to start on the north end of the addition and work towards the south but with those soil conditions and the basement where it needed to be for the central plan and infrastructure, we actually had to move it and start on the south end. So a lot of teamwork happened there to keep us anymore delayed than what we currently are.”
Plans are to provide public tours of the addition from 2-5pm on Saturday, June 13th of Bell Tower Festival. Behne states that they will be about 85 to 90 percent complete by then. The anticipated new open date is mid-to-late July.
Photos are found below:
