Groundbreaking Tuesday for medical center project

$2 million fundraising effort nears half-way point; public campaign begins now

By MICHELLE MCLEAN
Hillsboro Medical Center will break ground for a $12.5 million construction project Tuesday, May 1.
The groundbreaking ceremony — complete with a marching band — will celebrate the start of construction for a new two-story 36-bed nursing home, a 16-apartment assisted living facility and a renovated hospital.
Festivities will begin with the HMC Foundation bratwurst feed, an annual fundraising event serving from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the ambulance garage. The groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. on the front lawn of the hospital.
“It’s historic for us,” said Curt Kaufman, president of the HMC board of trustees. “It’s the biggest single undertaking ever in the community.”
“Ultimately it will mean we can provide all of the services that the community and area residents desire and need.”
Expected to be completed in 24 months, the construction project is the result of years of study by the HMC board of trustees. In the works for five years, the project addresses several goals:
n Build a new 25,000 sq. foot nursing home based on a new philosophy of individualized care.
n Build a new 17,000 sq. ft. assisted living facility with options for seniors.
n Renovate the hospital to meet today’s needs for efficiency, safety and privacy.
The facility has been designed by YHR Partners of Moorhead and Nor-Son, Inc. of Baxter, Minn. and Fargo is the general contractor for the project. Nor-Son anticipates the new construction will take 12 months while renovations will take place in a second phase lasting another 12 months. Renovations include new swing bed rooms, a state-of-the-art emergency room, new physical and occupational therapy unit, new radiology department and upgrades to the existing lab and kitchen areas.
Kaufman, who has served on the medical center board for nine years, said the decision to build grew out of a detailed assessment of the now 43-year-old nursing home and 53-year-old hospital.
As required by state and federal regulations, the nursing home needed immediate updates. The price tag for the “band-aid” fix was an estimated $2.2 million. After extensive research and study, the board of trustees identified long-range goals. In response to community demand and the need to continually improve services, the board shied away from a short-term solution and initiated the building project.
A $2 million capital campaign started last fall and has since raised $896,000 through one-on-one donation calls directed at individuals and businesses. A public campaign begins this week.
Patricia Dirk, administrator at HMC since 2005, says it’s an “exciting time” for the medical center and the community. She praised the “proactive” stance of the HMC board and its efforts to better serve the community.
She said that Hillsboro “has the best of everything” to offer its residents and the community’s growth — including the HMC project — will continue to attract new residents.
HMC’s growth is more than bricks and mortar. A culture change is already taking place in the nursing home, Dirk pointed out. The staff adopted a new “individualized” model of care, steering away from the decades-old institutional model. The new “household” model emphasizes the individual resident and that person’s needs and wants in a more homelike, personalized environment.
HMC is one of the first nursing homes in the state to adopt the household and “Person First” philosophy.
Dirk commented that the local nursing home has always provided quality but the changes have been a positive for both residents and staff. The new nursing home will provide an environment that complements the culture changes already in the works, she noted.
HMC is a not-for-profit organization that currently includes a 20-bed acute care community hospital, a 42-bed nursing home and ambulance services. In addition, HMC leases space to MeritCare Clinic, which is part of MeritCare Health System.
As the community’s second largest employer, HMC has 135 full-time and part-time staff with a payroll nearing $3 million a year.