HMC breaks ground on expansion project
Harrisburg Medical Center officials addressed their overcrowding issues with the breaking of ground on a $7 million expansion project Tuesday.
President and CEO, Rodney Smith, described the festivities as a "huge day for us." He said construction will begin either next month or in January. Ironically, a separate construction project is already underway on a new helipad and hangar.
"We've just reached a point where we are at capacity in several areas," Smith said. "This (expansion) allows us to serve the next generation of patients."
To best illustrate the need for additional space, Smith pointed to the fact that there were 200 employees at HMC when he started working there 18 years ago. Today, that number has grown to nearly 700.
"And that growth is because people trust us," he said. "People know that we're providing good care and that we have their best interests in mind. Our mission remains to serve the community. It's the only reason we exist as we are a non-profit medical center."
Smith said HMC serves a client base much larger than Harrisburg or Saline County. Patients frequent the center from Gallatin, Hardin, Pope and Johnson counties.
"This is the regional medical center for this part of the state," he said. "We knew that if we were going to continue to serve, we had to expand."
HMC board chairman Jim Hayes said the expansion project is most definitely costly, but needed.
"Sometimes, you just have to step out and take a chance," he said. "This is going to make a big difference in how we can serve the public."
Bill Yearout, vice president and business development director with Highland-based Korte Construction, said his firm is excited about its role in the expansion.
"We started working with Rodney and others on this project as far back as two years ago," he said. "We were selected from four firms to do the work. One of the most important aspects to this renovation is moving the emergency entrance to the north side so it is not right next to main entrance to the medical center."
Smith said the medical center board is following a master facility plan that that took a look at all the demographics in the area - disease trends, physician needs, age of the facility, etc.
"This plan was intended to determine what kind of facility would be needed to serve the community for the next 15-20 years," he said.
The results of the plan, he said, showed that the emergency room was built initially to serve 6,000 patients a year, but is now serving double that number. Operating rooms are full on the schedule with no more time available unless surgeries are done on second shifts or the weekends.
The inpatient behavioral health unit houses 30 beds and is at capacity nearly every day. It will be expanded by 16. There will also be an expanded entrance and lobby with a new emergency room and two new surgical suites.
Later, laundry services will be moved in-house and a new kitchen and cafeteria will be built. In regard to the helipad, Air Evac Lifeteam is funding that project. There will also be a fueling station on the center's grounds.
To accommodate the increase in traffic due to the construction, the medical center is working with the city to widen and improve the roads. Smith believes that traffic will naturally re-route as an effect of the construction, leading to an increase in traffic on nearby roads.