Published: June 25, 2008 02:56 pm            

Hospital to celebrate project

Ground-breaking ceremony set for Tuesday

By PAUL LORENZ

paul.lorenz@mcleansborotimesleader.com

McLEANSBORO— Dr. Alec Hood began his medical practice here in 1981.

At the time, Hamilton Memorial Hospital was 21 years old.

Now, at age 48, the hospital is on the verge of a major renovation which supporters — including Hood — say will help serve the community’s medical needs for years to come.

“The time comes when you have to move ahead,” the Hamilton County native said in a recent interview, “not only to improve the building facility, but to attract and retain physicians who will come and practice, like I have, for 30 years.”

The hospital district will host a ground-breaking ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 1, at the hospital campus at 611 S. Marshall Ave. to mark the start of the $18.5 million expansion and renovation project.

The project will include a new clinic, emergency department, surgical center, private patient rooms, aquatic therapy pool and a total renovation of the existing facility, a hospital district news release said.

A new parking lot behind the hospital and a new water line serving the neighborhood which incudes the hospital were recently completed in conjunction with the project.

“We are very excited about the prospect of breaking ground on this new facility,” said Randy Dauby, Hamilton Memorial’s chief executive officer. “We have spent the past several months completing the back parking lot that will be used primarily by employees, and now that it is complete, employees can begin parking behind the hospital and we can begin construction of the new addition in front of the hospital.”

Hood, medical staff representative to Hamilton Memorial Hospital District Foundation’s $2 million capital campaign in support of the renovation project, said he feels it is “going to have a positive effect on the community for the next 40 years.”

“When I was considering my support, I thought it was similar to when the community was building a new junior/senior high school,” he said. “I don’t think anyone thinks we should go back to the old facility.”

Hood, a general surgeon, has seen the emphasis in the medical profession change from inpatient postoperative care to shorter hospital stays and more outpatient services. The equipment is also “dramatically different and requires a different (operating room) environment to accommodate that,” he said.

Since the opening of Hamilton Memorial in 1960, the hospital has undergone the construction of additional patient rooms, completed in 1972; an emergency room addition, completed in 1979; and an addition for new ancillary services, completed in 1983. Hamilton Memorial Nursing Center opened in 1970, and construction of a physician office building adjacent to the hospital was completed in 1989, according to information on the hospital district’s Web site.

Recruiting physicians to small communities is difficult, he said, “and if you don’t have a hospital that’s attractive, it’s even more difficult.”

“The current hospital has served the community well for many years, but it has its limitations,” he said. “In order to serve for the next 30 to 40 years, it needs remodeling.”

Dauby said the hospital renovation has been undertaken “for our families and for future generations,” and he invites the public to attend the ground-breaking ceremony July 1.

“We want to share this day with the residents from our area who have helped make this project possible,” he said.

• Residents wishing to attend the ground-breaking ceremony may follow these directions to Hamilton Memorial: Turn south off Illinois Route 14 onto South Marshall Avenue; travel south approximately one-eighth of a mile to the hospital, located on the east side of the street. Limited parking will be available in front of the hospital; additional parking will be available behind the hospital in the new parking lot.

        

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