Culbertson Memorial Hospital Board approves $15.4M master facility plan

The Sarah D. Culbertson Memorial Hospital Board of Directors recently approved a $15.4 million dollar Master Facility Plan to renovate the interior of the hospital and authorized administration to move forward with its $5.5 million Phase I.

"The master facility plan represents a strategic investment in our hospital and our community," said Greg Snyder, Board President. "The facility improvements established in this plan allow us to expand services to the community and help ensure the long-term viability of Culbertson Memorial Hospital. The plan will be implemented in stages to provide flexibility of design and to maximize financial utilization. In the vastly changing world of healthcare, this plan is a tremendous positive for the Rushville and the surrounding communities."

"This investment is about more than simply new facilities. Over the past several months, in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned where some of our vulnerabilities lie, and through this project, we can turn our vulnerabilities into opportunities to improve how healthcare is delivered in Schuyler County and the surrounding area,” said John E. Kessler, CEO. “This project will significantly improve the way we serve our patients, from how patients access our campus to how our clinicians deliver care every day. Sarah D. Culbertson Memorial Hospital has been providing healthcare to our region for nearly 100 years, and as we approach our 100^th Anniversary in February, this project is the next step in helping us care for you and your family over the next 100 years."

"Phase I was the logical starting place, as the Master Facility Plan showed our Outpatient Specialty Clinics were one of our greatest vulnerabilities. We currently have a lack of space to bring in the additional Specialty Care Providers the community needs,” said Kessler. “We will also be able to create negative pressure rooms, which are vital to addressing airborne viruses. Additionally, Phase I will be completely funded by monies designated for renovations and pandemic response."

Specific plans include a significant expansion and renovation of the 42-year-old Emergency Department, centrally locating and expanding Laboratory Services, the creation of a Cancer Center, expansion of our Outpatient Specialty Clinics, privatization of our patient rooms and expansion of Surgical Services.

The renovations will be broken into six phases, and construction is anticipated to begin July of 2021 and be completed in February of 2027. In addition to the phases listed below, the construction project will also help the hospital to become a 100% sprinkled facility for fire safety.

The 100th Anniversary Renovation Project includes:

Phase 1 West Wing Renovation

• Five Outpatient Specialty Clinic care areas
• Expansion of Cardiac-Rehab Cancer Center with private and semi-private treatment rooms
• Dedicated Patient Access Area and Waiting Room

Phase 2 Laboratory Services, Main Entrance, and Patient Access

• Centrally locates and expands Laboratory Services
• Creates a new main entrance to the hospital
• Renovates the main waiting room; creates a new Patient Access Area

Phase 3 Emergency Department Expansion

• Creates a dedicated Trauma Room that can handle isolation patients
• Expands our treatment rooms from four to five
• Creates a centrally located nursing station
• Gives us the capability of having negative pressure rooms

Phase 4 Imaging Centralization

• Allows all testing for imaging to be completed within the Imaging Department. Currently, Imaging has testing sites located throughout the hospital.

Phase 5 Patient Wing

• Renovates nine patient rooms so that each room has their own toilet, sink, and shower
• Decreases patient beds from 22 to 12 by creating six private patient rooms and three semi-private patient rooms
• Establishes a dedicated staff lounge and staff training area

Phase 6 Surgical Services Expansion

• Builds two new Surgical suites and one scope room
• Establishes a four bed PACU unit; creates six pre-procedure patient bays
• Centrally located nursing desk

"The healthcare needs of our community have changed over the last decade, as more and more services have been pushed to the outpatient environment. While we are decreasing the total inpatient beds to 12, we feel the other changes we are making are truly what this community needs from us going forward. We also believe that by decreasing our number of beds we have the opportunity to upgrade our Med-Surg patient rooms to allow for private and semi-private patient rooms,” said Kessler. “These new patient rooms will be consistent with the accommodations you see in newer hospitals today and will be much more comfortable and create a healing environment for our patients."