Oktibbeha County Hospital stepped out of the 1970s and into the new millennium Tuesday.
The hospital cut the ribbon to open its newly completed West Tower and parking garage in front of hundreds of guests. The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors was on hand to commemorate the event and witness what the issuance of $27.5 million in bonds had brought them thus far.
“We”ve got the market cornered on making babies here in Oktibbeha County,” said Board of Supervisors President Marvell Howard. “The old facilities were outdated. They were too small and non functional, so it was a necessity to construct this new wing.”
The baby-making part has to do with the 15 new post-partum rooms added to the hospital for the more than 1,000 babies born each year at the hospital. The post-partum rooms are among 80 brand new rooms in the new wing. OCH CEO Arthur “Sonny” Kelly said the rooms are more than twice the size of the old rooms, able to house newer technology while still allowing more room for family to visit.
“Basically all of our patient rooms were totally outdated. They were built in 1973 on a plan that had been developed decades before that with just 100-square-feet per room,” said Kelly.
The sprawling new facilities also feature larger waiting rooms, larger nurses staions, a women”s center on the fourth floor, a four-tier parking deck and even a coffee shop in the lobby.
Now OCH will move on to Phase 2 of its construction plan, which entails renovating the existing rooms in the old wing of the hospital to look like the new rooms.
“Then our patients can walk from this building to the next building and won”t know that they”re out of one and into the other,” said Kelly.
Phase 2 is expected to be completed by December or early January.
Mike Andrews, OCH COO, said construction of the West Tower “finished at the 12th hour” but “lived up to exactly what we thought we were getting.”
“This community can be proud. From the women”s center on the fourth floor to all the patient rooms. It is as nice as any hospital you”ll find in this state,” said Andrews.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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