The
City of Plainville has granted the hospital 31 acres one-half mile north of town
on the east side of U.S. Highway 183. Currently, the hospital sits on two acres.
They will increase from 23,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet.
Dec. 20, 2004
By STACIE R. SANDALL
Hays Daily News
PLAINVILLE — With a little luck, Rooks County Health Center in Plainville will find a solution to its space situation. Cramped office quarters and tiny storage spaces have been a bane of the facility for several years, not to mention what has fallen into disrepair.
To address the situation, the facility is working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its unique mortgage financing program, said hospital administrator Ben Quinton.
“Our plans for funding a new hospital are still in the application phase. The HUD representatives from Washington, D.C., are planning to be here on Jan. 26 to do their site visit,” Quinton said. “They will then tell us what the next step in the application process will be. We don't know how long it will take. But we're hoping that it will just take two or three months and we can start breaking ground once we get final approval. We are very optimistic that we will get final approval.”
Around four years ago, the medical center hired an architect to determine whether to renovate or rebuild. Because the current facility is landlocked, it has no room for expansion. And because it would be more cost-effective to build a new facility rather than fix the old building, it was decided to try for a new building.
The
City of Plainville has granted the hospital 31 acres one-half mile north of town
on the east side of U.S. Highway 183. Currently, the hospital sits on two acres.
They will increase from 23,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet.
The local Lions Club plans to donate materials and labor to build the new helicopter pad.
“The medical center can't continue to grow and be successful without a new facility,” Quinton said.
Walking through the building during a media tour Friday, Quinton and the director of maintenance, Bob Rudman, pointed out several issues that need to be addressed.
The lobby's restrooms are not handicapped accessible and the some of the former restrooms and the whirlpool room have been turned into tiny offices and storage spaces.
Some of the offices are too small for one person to function in, yet they have four to five people utilizing them.
A sprinkler system is non-existent, but the fire marshals are allowing them to go without because of the facility's intent of building a new hospital within the next few years.
Supply closets and rooms are poorly located, the phone system is outdated, the plumbing is outdated and the wiring is “maxed out,” said Rudman.
There is no ventilation in the building to provide air circulation and air conditioning in the hospital is done with manual units.
The lobby has been cut in half to provide a cardiac rehab area, on the other side of the building from its counterpart physical therapy department.
EagleMed's helicopter landing site is in an inconvenient location because of its distance from the doorways. Patients need to be wheeled through the building, past the lobby and out the back door causing privacy problems.
“A new hospital will allow us to be more compliant with HIPPA,” Quinton said.
One larger room was partitioned to create a CT scan room and a supply room. On the supply room's side of the partition, wire fencing covers the insulation and 2x4 framing.
And the list goes on.
“There may be some misconceptions in the community about the hospital needing to raise people's taxes, and we want to make sure that people know that's not what we're trying to do,” Quinton said.
A medical center construction project is to be financed through a government program that would not obligate the taxpayers. The medical center will not use mill levy money to pay for a new hospital building.
“The medical center is financially strong and growing. RCH is in excellent financial shape and has made money the past the years. We will add new surgical procedures next month including our first gall bladder surgery scheduled for January 24,” said Quinton. “A vote of county taxpayers to build this facility will not be required.”
The county mill levy for the medical center has decreased the past two years and only 10 percent of the medical center's operating budget comes from the county mill levy, he said.
“The county could use a dynamic economic development project and a new facility will keep business in that county that would otherwise not locate there,” said Quinton.
The administrator explained that a new facility also will improve emergency medical transport and save lives, help the hospital exceed all building and fire codes, and keep good doctors and nurses and create more jobs.
The hospital, built in 1954 as Plainville Rural Hospital, currently has seven local medical providers.
Reporter Stacie Sandall can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 136, or by e-mail at ssandall@dailynews.net.