OGALLALA, Neb. (Feb. 8, 2013) – Ogallala Community Hospital has announced a $2 million expansion to accommodate more outpatient clinic services in the community.
Construction, scheduled to begin in the second quarter 2013, involves a 3,800- to 5,000- square-foot extension of the hospital. It will provide space for additional visiting specialists with five bays for infusion services and cancer care.
Visiting specialists provide care in the following areas: bariatric surgery, cancer, ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology, heart, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, podiatry, pulmonology and urology.
Banner Health, which has a lease agreement to operate Ogallala Community Hospital, is paying for the project.
Sharon Lind, Ogallala Community Hospital’s chief executive officer, said the investment by Banner Health affirms the health care system’s commitment to the community.
“Banner Health is interested in meeting the needs of Ogallala’s residents by providing additional space for specialists,” she said. “Being able to meet with specialists here or to receive outpatient infusion therapy locally means you don’t have to drive out of town for services.”
Construction will be on the northwest side of the existing hospital, which is at 2601 N. Spruce St. It will connect to the hospital and sit directly across from the Banner Health Clinic. The visiting specialists currently share space with family practice physicians.
The new space will offer approximately seven exams rooms, a nurse’s station, physician office to accommodate multiple physicians, two procedure rooms, telehealth/consultation room and support areas. The infusion service that currently resides in the hospital’s respiratory department will move to the new clinic where oncology nurses and a visiting oncologist will be located. This area will offer multiple bays including one dedicated to serve a patient who needs isolation because of high risk for infection. Another area will be structured to provide telehealth capabilities where local physicians and patients can consult with specialists in other communities.
Ogallala Community Hospital advisory board president Gary Schreiner said he was pleased to partner with Banner Health on the project. “It’s a generous donation. For Banner Health to step forward and build the specialty clinic is an asset to the community.”
Visions in Architecture of Lincoln and Omaha will serve as the architect for the project, which should take about eight months from the start of construction to complete.