Published: July 02, 2008 02:46 pm            

Carrying on a legacy

Hospital breaks ground on expansion project

By PAUL LORENZ

paul.lorenz@mcleansborotimesleader.com

McLEANSBORO — Hamilton Memorial Hospital District's board of directors is carrying on a legacy begun 50 years ago by the people who established the hospital here, the district's executive director said.

Hospital district, city, county and state officials, as well as construction company representatives, celebrated a formal ground-breaking Tuesday for the hospital district's $18.5 million expansion and renovation project.

"Fifty years ago, a group of leaders came together to bring health care to this rural community," Hamilton Memorial CEO Randy Dauby told the crowd gathered across Marshall Avenue from the hospital for the ceremony.

Now, Dauby said, the "tireless effort" of the current board has led to the first major expansion in 25 years for the hospital district.

"And it's long, long overdue," he added. "Health care has changed dramatically in the past 25 years."

Dirt moving had already begun Tuesday in front of the hospital for the project, which will include a new emergency room, family clinic, surgical suite and fitness pool for aquatherapy; private patient rooms with family amenities; the addition of a new sleep lab and cardiac rehabilitation services; and additions to the laboratory, radiology and rehab services and other departments in the hospital.

Regarding the legacy, Mayor Dick Deitz noted that around the same time of the original hospital construction, the city was also building its swimming pool right across the street.

"People worked hand in hand to do that," he said.

Cooperation has allowed the city to work with the hospital district to provide a new water line and new electrical distribution which will benefit other parts of the community, Deitz said.

"There have been glitches, and we've been able to sit down and work through them," he said.

John O'Hara of the Murray Co., the St. Louis-based construction management firm on the project, noted that project planning started two-and-a-half years ago — in January 2006 — and "it will be another two-and-a-half years to completion of the final phase.”

Work on the front section of the hospital should be complete about a year from now, O'Hara said.

Hunt Bonan of the Hamilton Memorial Hospital District Foundation, which is working on a $2 million capital campaign in support of the construction project, noted that, as of Tuesday, the campaign had reached 70 percent of its goal.

Bonan recognized the hospital district employees for stepping up with their financial support. They have committed $200,000 toward the project, he said.

Dauby asked for the community's continued patience during the construction project, "especially when we cut off people's water supply," a reference to a water main break last week.

He lauded the hospital board for being proactive, not reactive.

"In 10 or 15 years, we're going to be saying 'It's a good thing we did this.'"

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.