Engineers recommended Allen County Hospital trustees defer any major changes to Kentucky Street, which will run in front of the new hospital, until its full use is better determined. At their meeting Tuesday night, Phil Schulze, construction manager, told trustees the road seems to be “fairly solid. It helps that the ditches are as deep as they are. I think we should go forward now and revisit it later.”
Construction plans include adding almost two feet to the west side of the road along hospital property through the addition of curbs. The street is 24 feet wide, four feet narrower than standard city roads, Schultze said. The city assumed responsibility of the road from the county a few years ago.
Two years ago, city crews added a two-inch overlay of asphalt covering a chip-and-seal roadbed. Carl Slaugh, Iola city administrator, said the current surface is “good for straight-away traffic, but turning traffic causes more wear and tear, though the curbing will help stabilize the roadbed.”
Two weeks ago, City officials had expressed their desire for the hospital to assume responsibility for maintenance of the road, “Considering they are devoting one-half of their sales tax to the construction of the hospital,” Schultze said.
Mayor Bill Shirley allayed trustees’ concerns of the responsibility when he said, “It’s my thinking that if the road deteriorates, it’s the city’s responsibility to take care of it. That’s just the way it is. It’s within the city limits. I would think that anyone on the city council would want that road to look as good as it can. I wouldn’t think that would be a worry.”
Trustees approved a guaranteed maximum price of $18, 287,231 with Murray Construction to build the new hospital. The price is “right on budget” for what the $25 million in bonds would provide, said Chuck Wells, financial adviser to the trustees.
Scott Crist of UMB, Kansas City, Mo., also gave trustees a detailed timetable for the sale of the municipal bonds. The first $10 million of bonds will be sold Nov. 28, followed by the second issuance of $10 million on Dec. 14. Payment will occur over a 15 ½ -year period.
More private patient rooms and the installation of electronic medical records topped the wish list of hospital staff.
The current design allows for 17 private rooms for patients and another eight semi-private rooms. Although inpatient numbers have reached 25 only once during the last year, according to Larry Peterson, chief financial officer for the ACH, the need for additional rooms occurs when patients are hospitalized for short periods of time, some of only a few hours.
Patty McGuffin, director of nursing, mentioned several instances of such short-term stays including when people need to have a blood transfusion, a pregnant woman needs a stress test, or when patients simply need to be observed for a few hours.
Cris Rivera, chief executive officer of ACH, also voiced support for more private rooms, if not an entirely private-room facility.
“It’s a great marketing tool to have all private rooms,” she said. “It will draw more patients.”
Peterson said the hospital would rarely need to use the “Super Single” rooms designed to accommodate two patients, if necessary. The hospital rarely has more than 17 inpatients, “Maybe 20-30 days out of the year,” he said. Its full capacity of 25 patients is met “once or twice a year.”
David Wright, architect for the project, suggested revisiting the plans to see if an additional four private rooms could be added without incurring additional costs.
As far as electronic medical records, both McGuffin and Dr. Brian Wolfe, an ex officio member to the board, recommended it be installed as soon as financing allows.
“It would save our nurses 20 pages of paperwork for each patient,” McGuffin said.
Wolfe told trustees the technology that inputs patient information into a computer system “is a must, not an option these days. And we’ll get ‘dinged’ financially by the government if we don’t do it.” The technology is also what new physicians expect, he said, and vital to recruitment efforts.
The technology costs an estimated $2 million, for which none is budgeted.
“That’s where a capital campaign is really needed to come through,” Schultze said. Organizers have targeted $5.7 million in fundraising efforts.
Trustees declined adding a city official as an ex officio member to the board, as requested by members of the city council. An ex officio member lends his or her expertise to trustees in their management of the hospital. They cannot vote.
Currently, Rivera, as CEO of the hospital, and Wolfe, on medical staff, serve in that capacity. After much discussion, trustees rejected a motion, made by Karen Gilpin and seconded by Harry Lee, to make the Mayor of Iola an ex officio to the board.
Patti Boyd, an attorney by profession, allowed that without established bylaws, she felt uncomfortable establishing the position “without parameters already in place.” She also said she felt that the trustees and city representatives had been doing a good job of communicating with each other. Members of either group are free to attend the meetings of the other, which are open to the public.
“If we’re looking for a liaison, we can do that without an ex officio spot,” Boyd said.
In late November and early December four meetings especially designed to show the public the architectural renderings of the new hospital and to answer any questions will occur in Humboldt, Iola, LaHarpe and Moran.
Nov. 21, the meetings will be at 7 p.m. at Humboldt Public Library and Iola High School lecture hall. On Dec. 1, the meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Moran Community Center and at 7:30 p.m. at LaHarpe City Hall.
Architects from Wichita and engineers from Kansas City will be there to explain the scope of the project.
Trustees delay road decision
