GREENVILLE – Wayne HealthCare hit a milestone in its expansion on Friday, Jan. 17. The final piece of structural steel for the $60 million expansion was put into place as part of the topping-off ceremony.
To celebrate the event, the hospital invited its employees to watch as Shook Construction hoisted the piece and installed it into the skeletal structure.
For several weeks prior to the topping-off event, employees, community leaders and the public were invited to sign the piece of steel. “It will be a part of this structure for many decades to come; until somebody long past us decides to change it,” said Jeff Subler, vice-president of Support Services.
Terri Flood, vice-president of Business Development, shared the expansion is a “true testament to our senior leadership, staff, our board members, our employees, as well as our community and partners.”
The expansion is expected to open in 2021 and will conclude the hospitals 15-year effort “to basically rebuild the hospital on-site,” said Wayne Deschambeau, president/CEO of Wayne HealthCare. He was excited to point out many of the features in the new addition weren’t event on the plan over a decade ago. The biggest effort will include the space dedicated to wellness.
The hospital will dedicate 10,000 square feet of space to focus on the preventative approach to healthcare. The area will feature 19-foot ceilings as well as floor to ceiling windows. “It’s going to be a real functional, as well as delightful, place to be able do that,” said Deschambeau.
Another area the expansion will focus on is private rooms. “We have promised to provide private facilities for every patient in the building to get us into the 21st century,” he said. There will be 32 rooms and the building is designed as a multi-use facility. They will be able to keep patients in their room instead of moving them between floors to go from medical surgical to ICU. “When you’re really sick, you don’t want to be moved someplace else,” said Deschambeau. “This will accomplish that – get people well in place where they are.”
Obstetrics, which is currently housed in the facility built in 1938, will be moved to the new addition. While they won’t have more beds, the department will see a 50 percent increase in size.
Flood believes the expansion is directly in line with the hospital’s vision. “Our vision is to provide world-class, patient-centered healthcare and wellness to our friends, families and neighbors using the best technology provided by highly skilled and engaged employees and providers,” she said.
Watch for a special program on the topping-off ceremony on DarkeCountyMedia.com Extra. The video program is available on The Early Bird and Daily Advocate’s Facebook Pages, The Early Bird’s You Tube Channel and website.
