Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Four Surgeries On First Day; Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Feb. 26 With Governor
A moving crew carries a C-Arm X-ray machine onto a truck near the old Kimball hospital for the short drive to the new hospital. It was Monday, opening day for patient services at the new facility.
Next up for the new – and now open – Kimball Health Services hospital is next week's ribbon cutting celebration with Gov. Jim Pillen in attendance.
Patient services shifted to the facility from the old hospital at 7 a.m. Monday.
The 505 S. Burg St. location, home to the hospital since 1950, is out.
The new address, 255 W. 4th St., is in.
"We're very pleased with how the move has gone so far, with only a few small items to be moved yet between buildings," Kerry Ferguson, KHS community relations director, told the Observer on Monday. "Our health providers hit the ground running in the new surgical suite with four surgeries scheduled for today.
"We're hoping the community will help us celebrate the opening of Kimball's new hospital at our ribbon cutting/open house."
The event begins 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26. Invited guests include Pillen, U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith and state Sen. Brian Hardin.
Those attending the open house will have lots to see in the $43 million, 60,000-square-foot building that's 40,000 square feet larger than the old hospital. The property covers a full city block formerly occupied by West Elementary School.
The new hospital features larger inpatient rooms and bathrooms, wider corridors, MRI and CT scanner services, mammography, chemotherapy infusions, orthopedic procedures, expanded surgical options, an updated surgical suite, more space for preoperative and postoperative procedures, an expanded physical therapy department with a walking track and kitchen for home-based activity therapy, an expanded ER department, additional exam rooms, a covered ambulance bay and a helipad.
Among the nice touches in the hospital are plaques next to room entrances that recognize donors for helping make possible specialized healthcare services in those rooms.
The hospital's big move gave Dave Reader of Kimball a unique place in local history. He was the last patient to be transported Monday morning from the old hospital to the new one.
