New Rooks County Health Center nearing completion

Despite delays due to recent storms, the new Rooks County Health Center is nearing completion.  The new date for completion is September 18, 2008, with the opening to follow on September 22.  Pictures of the progress can be viewed at www.rookscountyhealthcenter.com.

As you look at the new hospital one mile north of Plainville on U.S. Highway 183, you might wonder how this building design came to pass.  Before the design was completed, the board of directors, administration and many staff members in a collaborative effort considered how the health center could continue to provide and improve their quality of care.   The team considered the area in which we live to be one of the our greatest assets and tied them into the design of the new hospital.

Both inside and out, you'll see iconic materials found within the rural communities of Rooks County.  The exterior color palette is also representative of the area.   Red was chosen to represent barn buildings, lean-tos and other construction you might find on a farm.   The green siding was used to represent the green fields and grass.  The design uses material indigenous to this area of Kansas like galvanized metal, brick, concrete, steel and limestone.   These things are frequently seen in farm settings all around Rooks County.  The rationale behind the new hospital's aesthetics was when someone uses this hospital there would be a sense of familiarity.

As the team began re-imagining the historically basic hospital of the past and examined the good it had provided for over 50 years, they brought these ideas into a new building that brings in sunlight and nature, welcomes family and friends and puts patients in charge in as many ways as possible.

"The emerging philosophy takes a new, scientific approach toward health care design.  It utilizes data from hundreds of existing studies that meet the criteria of scientific investigation and common sense," said Chuck Comeau, a member of RCH Board of Directors.  Comeau noted one study as early as the 1980's found that giving patients a view of a beautiful Kansas wheat field or a sunset rather than a brick wall reduced their recovery time by 25 percent.  Simply providing such a scene also is proven to reduce patient complaints for ailments such as nausea, thereby decreasing medication time.

Positive distractions are built into the design of the new hospital in the form of photography of Kansas landscapes by local artist Lawrence Pfortmiller.   Using local artisans takes a prominent role in the building's overall atmosphere.  Michelle Garvert has also been commissioned to complete oil paintings of significant donors to the building project.  Stan Deitrix is ready to hang the four stained glass windows he designed and built for the hospitals' chapel.  "There is a strong body of evidence demonstrating how art improves patient outcomes too," states Bill Stahl, COO of RCH.

Kathy Ramsay, RN
RCHC Communications & Development Director