Pulaski Memorial Hospital is entering into a building project.
“The Board has approved the construction of a 6,400 square foot medical office building to be located just south of the hospital and connected to the main hospital by a covered walkway for patient access,” said Hospital CEO, Rick Mynark. “There will be two suites within the building, one for Dr. Clint Kaufman, who does the vast majority of our OB deliveries. He will have an opportunity to be located on campus and much more accessible to the maternity unit as he’s needed. The other part of the building, about 2,800 square feet, will be allocated to what we call a group practice. This will eventually expand to consist of three or four physicians as the feature develops. Right now, there will be one physician in there when the building is completed with perhaps a Nurse Practitioner to assist him.”
The $1 million dollar project is expected to get off the ground next month and be completed by next year. The addition will be steel frame construction with a brick facade that will match that of the hospital.
Pulaski Memorial Hospital is a critical access medical facility that is 22 bed accredited. Dr. Kaufman is an OB-GYN physician. He and Dr. Elizabeth Wetzel deliver 140-160 babies a year.
Mynark said that the new addition will give the hospital the opportunity to start delivering an on-campus group. “That, he said, “is becoming the standard model for health care in the 21st. century. The day of the solo practice is fading fast. For doctors the costs are going up, and revenue reimbursements are going down.”
“By bringing the hospital into the equation as an employer, those ancillary services can be provided, and the doctor can do what he or she does best, practice medicine,” Mynark said.
