CEO Update: Planning for efficiency in the hospital expansion

In May 2022, we announced plans for a multi-story addition with new and expanded patient care areas. During the past year, we looked at every detail and revised the plans for efficiency. Continue reading or watch a video for updates about the expansion, including:

• Project plans.
• Construction timeline.
• Groundbreaking ceremony.

Project Plans

Work continues in the background on the 117,000-square-foot expansion project. Plans are moving from the schematic phase (initial designs) to final designs before starting construction. Some plans changed as we adapted the project to make it financially feasible yet still meet our patients’ needs.

Many concepts are the same as when we originally shared the plan details. We still have the same patient care areas:

• 29 care spaces in the new and expanded Emergency Department. We currently have 12 ED beds.
• New private med/surg rooms.
• A new Intensive Care Unit with a 50% capacity increase.
• A new and expanded Birth Place.
• An additional cath lab in the existing hospital space next to the expansion.
• Larger operating space.

But we had to make some changes. Our construction manager, JE Dunn, taught us how to make the building less expensive and keep our priorities. That’s been the goal, and I feel like we’ve achieved that.

Changes include:

• The building angles slightly south to follow the contour of the land. The change makes the building more visible from the highway and saves money.
• Placing the dining room on the first floor rather than building a lower floor.
• Moving the Birth Place to a different location.
• Fewer med/surg rooms, but they are all private rooms, which was our primary goal.

Construction Timeline Update

Before we start building the expansion, we have to clear the construction site on the south end of the hospital. These steps are “make ready” work that will happen in several phases starting soon after the groundbreaking.

Parking: The south hospital parking lots will not be available during construction. We will expand the north lot and build a temporary parking lot south of the Cancer Center. With these two lots, we will have nearly the same number of parking spaces as we have now.

Relocating offices: The CMH Quality and Public Safety offices will move to new locations. These offices currently are in the former Human Resources building on Highway 83 north of Butterfield Park Medical Center. Demolition of that office building allows the new campus entrance to align with Parkview Street.

Relocating the kitchen and dining room: The final “make ready” step is to relocate the kitchen and dining area in early 2024. The new construction requires the demolition of the current facilities. The relocation includes temporary kitchen units next to the community rooms and repurposing the community rooms as the dining room.

End of First Quarter 2024: Construction begins on the expansion, starting with demolition.

Groundbreaking Ceremony

I want to invite everyone to join us in celebrating Citizens Memorial Hospital’s 41^st anniversary on Sept. 28. The groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital expansion marks the beginning of the largest facility expansion in CMH’s history.

The ceremony is from 11 a.m.-noon with lunch served afterward. The ceremony location is south of the hospital, near where the new building will be located.

The ceremony will focus on where we’ve been, where we are right now, and where we’re going in the future.

Parking details: We are designating nearby parking for VIP and accessible parking. Additional parking is on the Butterfield campus. If you need parking accommodations, please let us know at 417-328-6401.

Live stream: We will also have a live stream of the ceremony so people can join remotely or watch the recording. We recognize there are a lot of employees who would like to see the event but are unable to attend.

RSVP: If you plan to attend, please RSVP by phone at 417-328-6401 by Tuesday, Sept. 26.

Learn more about the ceremony through CMH’s social media channels and other media outlets.

We really would like for anybody in the community who’s interested to feel free to attend. We want you to participate and celebrate with us as we expand the hospital and celebrate 41 years of CMH. We will celebrate the great care we’ve provided. We’ll look to the future and how we will grow to meet the needs of our community.

Michael Calhoun shares the latest happenings at CMH in his monthly CEO Updates. He is the CEO/executive director of CMH and the Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation.