With $31.5 million in Measure L money in the bank, Hazel Hawkins
Hospital staff have set to work on the first renovations of the
outdated facility.
Hollister – With $31.5 million in Measure L money in the bank, Hazel Hawkins Hospital staff have set to work on the first renovations of the outdated facility.
The hospital board approved the purchase of a $1.5 million CT scanner and will begin construction on 30 new parking spaces in the front of the hospital, according to hospital Chief Executive Officer Ken Underwood.
The additional parking should be available within a month, Underwood said.
Measure L, which will cost homeowners nearly $25 annually per $100,000 of assessed valuation in the first year, passed in a landslide May 3, garnering 77 percent of the vote.
As property values increase over the 30-year life of the bond, the tax will decrease to an average of $14.95 per $100,000 of assessed value. The fee will appear on residents’ tax bills each December.
While much of the money is going toward a complete renovation of facility, a large portion will purchase top-of-the-line technology to improve healthcare services, Underwood said.
The hospital’s new CT scanner, which provides a 3-D view of selected body tissue and is not available at any other hospital in the area, should be installed in several months and is one of the first pieces of upgraded technology the hospital has acquired with the bond money.
The most extensive project is the design of a remodeled and expanded emergency room that will service about three times the number of patients as the current facility. The hospital’s architect is about 25 percent done with the design and should complete the plans within the next four months, Underwood said.
“We’re excited about having the funds available, and the big push is to get the emergency room design done,” Underwood said.
After a blueprint is complete it will be sent to the state for review. Underwood said any electrical, structural or mechanical changes to a facility within the main hospital must be approved by the state, which can take up to six months.
Underwood hopes to break ground on the new $3.5 million facility in about 11 months and be open for business by the hospital’s 100th anniversary in 2007.
