West River Health Services Plans Expansion and Renovation

(Hettinger, ND) –Terry Henderson, Chairman of the Board, and Jim Long, Administrator/CEO, of West River Health Services (WRHS) announced a major expansion and renovation plan for both the hospital and clinic. Over the next several months, Jim Long, will be discussing these plans at a series of luncheon and breakfast meetings with community families and leaders.

Long stated, “This year WRHS celebrates 56 years of providing area citizens with access to a full range of quality health care services. We are proud of our history as a rural medical provider and thank our patients, public and staff for their support, assistance and direction in shaping that history. As we begin our next fifty-six years, we are taking another large step forward to further improve our ability to deliver quality, community-based health care within our region. Health care is changing. The challenges of providing quality health care are greater than ever. We need to be in a position to be proactive in meeting those future needs and challenges.”

Henderson added, “The plans include consolidating hospital and clinic entrances with a level parking area to provide handicapped access, and to centralize admissions, patient accounts, and medical records for improved patient access and coordination of patient services. Building a new medical clinic will add more exam and procedure rooms and increase patient and staff privacy and confidentiality. Also, the construction of a new surgical services area will include new operating rooms.”

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WRHS Expansion Plans

Long continued, “This project will also help provide space for expanding medical services and enhance recruitment and retention of staff and physicians.

A feasibility study completed last year by WRHS Foundation showed broad citizen and physician support for these improvements. “The Medical Center is a key component in economic development for our communities,” Long said. “When corporations and retirees look at any of our communities, access to quality health care is a significant factor in their decision.”

As to economic impact, West River Health Services currently employs more than 268 full-time and part-time employees with an annual payroll of over $11 million and a total budget of approximately $18 million. This results in an estimated economic impact to the region, using an overall turnover rate of 3, to be $54 million a year. It should also be noted that over half of the payments for medical services come from federal and state sources and could be considered new money to our region.

”The numbers are large but it is the people and their care that are most important. We work hard to honor our commitment to provide the personal and compassionate care that has been a part of our mission since the beginning of this medical system,” Long said. “Taking care of the patient has to remain as our focus. Our facility is an important part of the environment of care and, after nearly 25 years since the last major building improvements, it is time to upgrade the facility.”

Long added the proposed expansion and renovation project would not only meet current needs, but also allow for growth in the future. “We are hopeful for a population growth due to economic development but, even without such, the demand for health services will not diminish in the future. As the average age of the population in our region rises there will be an increasing need in this area for medical services. Older people simply require more medical care. We took care of most of these people in their first 50 years and now we need to prepare ourselves to take care of them and others in the next 50 years.”

7/21/06