Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
The Kimball Event Center, left, has ample parking and plenty of space for an additional proposed wellness center, however, necessary renovations are cost prohibitive for Kimball Health Services to move forward with the project at that location. The Kimball Health Services north campus, right, is a better fit financially for the project, but offers less parking.
The Kimball Event Center, left, has ample parking and plenty of space for an additional proposed wellness center, however, necessary renovations are cost prohibitive for Kimball Health Services to move forward with the project at that location. The Kimball Health Services north campus, right, is a better fit financially for the project, but offers less parking.
After further investigation into a possible wellness center at the current Kimball Event Center, the Kimball County hospital has decided not to go forward on the combined project with the Kimball City Council and the Kimball County Commissioners.
Kimball Health Services CEO, Ken Hunter said that he was very pleased to see so many community leaders come together to consider the possibility of a wellness center as well as community improvements.
In January of this year a handful of local leaders met to discuss the possibility of a wellness center at the Kimball Event Center. Those leaders included City Administrator Daniel Ortiz, County Commissioner Daria Anderson-Faden, County Clerk Cathy Sibal, Mayor Keith Prunty, Kimball Health Services' CFO Melissa Prante and Ken Hunter, CEO of Kimball Health Services.
Hunter explained that while considering the proposed project one of Nebraska's oldest and most knowledgable architectural firms, Cannon Moss Brygger (CMBA), was invited to take a look at the Kimball Event Center and give their opinion.
"They (CMBA) do a lot of healthcare projects," Hunter said. "They had a couple of concerns. One of the first concerns was that it would spread us out into three different places, so strategically that probably wasn't a good idea for us."
He added that necessary renovations to the current event center would cost the hospital more money as well.
Hunter said he would still like to go forward with a wellness center project, but that it will most likely be located in the hospital's North Campus at Third and Howard streets.
Updates will be required at that building as well, according to Hunter, as the HVAC systems are original and date back to the 1950s.
"At some point, there will be some new construction involved, there has to be. We will not commit to anything that we don't feel we can handle as a fiduciary," Hunter said. "We will present to our board at the next meeting, a contractor to use for a master facility plan. To both make repairs and update the building and perhaps any new construction."
They will request the Kimball Hospital Board to consider the new plan at that board's next public meeting, on April 25 at 4 p.m. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be at the south end of the North Campus.
While the proposed wellness center will not be located in the Kimball Event Center, City Administrator, Daniel Ortiz, said that the repairs to the facility will go forward and that the City hopes the project will be completed in the fall or winter of 2016.
