Limited tours of new hospital facility

The Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital opened its new addition's doors on Tuesday for tours to key supporters of the construction. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the tours were delayed and numbers were limited.

Hospital CEO Margie Molitor said, "Because we weren't able to do the open house that we had planned, we did have a few tours for people who helped make it possible. So, we did the elected officials this morning, and the Yes For Our Hospital group this afternoon and the Hospital Foundation Board, Auxiliary officers, things like that. We tried to get key people for these tours because I can't get everybody and keep it to groups of nine or less."

The new addition to the hospital has state-of-the-art equipment and technology that brings them to current standards. There is a new emergency room facility, two new surgery rooms, a new OB section. The overall space creates a natural flow for staff and patients and families to move through. The colors and designs of the rooms are easy on the eyes and reflect the color choices found in the Hot Springs State Park.  All the patient rooms have windows and many rooms use natural lighting in addition to fixture lights.

Molitor said, "I think the important thing is it's a phased build. So, there are going to be little things that aren't quite perfect right yet. But we know that. They can come in and fix those things while they're building the rest of it. What's important is for us to move into this section so we can move in and work on Phase 2 and 3. We can't do that until we are out of where we are now. That's why it's key we move."

Molitor guided the tours and showed off all the rooms and paid attention to the details and features. She said, "We're excited. It's a beautiful facility. The staff is very excited to get this thing moving. I would caution people and remind them that because it is a phased project, the entrance right now is temporary, the gravel is temporary. Once the old building comes down, we will then pave that and have parking again and better sidewalks. But this is just temporary so that we can start using this phase and move along with the project." 

Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital will be known as Hot Springs Health once the project is complete.