Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
It's Feb. 19 For Opening Day, Feb. 26 For Open House & Governor's Visit
The new Kimball Health Services hospital is equipped with three large surgical suites, including this one. Two rooms will be available for surgeries on Feb. 19 if all goes well with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services approving the new facility. See other photo on Page A4.
Officials for Kimball Health Services anticipate that the new building will be fully operational and ready for patients on Feb. 19.
An open house and ribbon cutting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Feb. 26 with Gov. Jim Pillen in attendance, along with other politicians, officials and the public.
The hospital, clinic and emergency room will open on Feb. 19 at 255 West 4th St. if all goes according to plan.
CEO and CFO Cassie Gasseling said that employees from the portable trailers at the old hospital site, including medical records, have moved into the new facility. Everything is at a standstill until the state conducts the survey for the facility. KHS must pass it, and then a new license will be issued.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services will be in Kimball on Feb. 13 and 14 to review policies, review staff training and equipment, and if compliant, a new license will be issued. By Friday, everyone is hopeful that they will receive confirmation of licensing, and a moving crew will use the remainder of the week to move everything into the new building.
Lots of new equipment will fill the new facility, including an in-house MRI and CT scanner – and that means no more traveling out to the MRI trailer in a snowstorm.
The MRI is a massive piece of new equipment; the room where the giant machine sits is just south of the helipad. Due to the weight of the MRI, 18 inches of concrete was necessary, and the rebar in the concrete is fiberglass so as not to conflict with the giant magnet operating the MRI. In addition, should the MRI machine develop a need for repairs, the north wall was constructed to be removed, and the machine can be taken out of that opening for repairs.
The spacious new facility will have 60,000 square feet as opposed to the current 20,000 square feet, and they will add about 10-15 employees. There are 10 patient rooms with 14 beds (including four double rooms) and three trauma rooms adjacent to the covered ambulance bay.
KHS employees are excited and anxious to get into the new facility.