As health care providers deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, Pulaski Memorial Hospital is moving forward with expansion plans for its Medical and Surgical Group. Hospital officials broke ground Thursday on a 16,000-square-foot addition to the Winamac Clinic.
Pulaski Memorial Hospital Director of Plant Engineering Mark Boer says it will be a big improvement for the community. “It’s going to be very patient-friendly, from the start of when you come in from the highway,” he explains. “The front of the building will be visible when you come in off the highway. The parking is nice and close, and then when you enter, you’ll be right there by a welcome desk and the check-in desk, with the exam suites around that center hub.”
The addition to the west side of the current building will add 22 exam rooms for a total of 41, plus three new procedure rooms.
Boer says project officials were able to adjust their design to incorporate the latest COVID-19 precautions, especially when it comes to the proper airflow. “We were able to design that into the addition, so that we have at least one exam room per suite where it’s negative air pressure,” he says. “So if they have a patient that is showing symptoms, we can put that patient in that room and know that it’s not going to be circulating throughout the facility.”
Hospital Communications Director Brian Ledley notes that the Medical and Surgical Group has come a long way in its first seven years, “To go from one, two physicians to now having 23 physicians and nurse practitioners as well as a certified nurse assistant with five clinics now, I think it’s just a great testament to our willingness, as we talk about being the provider of choice, of providing that care to our community.”
Boer says the new facility will bring doctors of similar specialties together, allowing for better collaboration. Hospital officials were joined by Alliance Bank representatives for Thursday’s groundbreaking.
