Facility Master Plan

There are still a lot of details that need to be worked out for the project to begin. The basics of the timeline are:

• Now through March 2022: Pre-Design, including approval of design services, USDA financing, site survey
• March-August 2022: Schematic Design, including design workshops, peer tours, public forums
• June-November 2022: Design Development, including design mockups
• November 2022 – March 2023: Construction Documents, including USDA review and approval, city and state review
• April – July 2023: Bidding process
• August 2023: Construction begins (length of construction to be determined)

If all goes according to plan, construction is expected to begin August 2023.

From the time construction begins, the project is expected to take 66 months to complete. Construction will be done in four phases.

There were several factors that led to this option being selected, including:

• Our priorities would be addressed in Phase 1
  • Priorities include: Expanding rural health clinic and specialty clinic, improving surgical services, enhancing emergency services, and creating a centralized registration area
• It is the most patient friendly between phasing and during construction
• Most adaptable in terms of aligning facility with affordability

Our Facility Master Plan team consists of:

• LCHC staff: Phil Shealey, Jay Christensen, Lori Johnson, JoBeth Lawless, Dr. Anderson, Amy McCurdy, Stephanie Bear, and Calvin Dyer
• Invision Architecture: Becky Hansel, Principal/Planner and Cally Niess, Project Architect
• Bluestone Engineering: Rich Larson, Engineering Principal and Mitch McColloch, Mechanical Engineer

Because no public funding is being requested, a vote was not necessary.

Our patient experience is our top priority. During construction, we will have an abundance of signage to assist with wayfinding as well as designated staff members to guide patients and visitors through the facility.

Yes, we believe this is an important part of our mission and will still offer educational classes to our staff and community. They may, however, be offered in alternate locations within the facility or even offsite.

Yes, repairing and replacing the parking lot will be addressed within this project.

No, our patients have been and continue to be top priority during this project. We will continue to provide services through construction.

Property taxes will not be raised in relation to this project.

Our Facility Master Plan team has chosen the “expand-in-place” option which has a combination of demolition for a portion of the building, building new additions, and remodeling the remaining portions. (Note: To best understand what is being demolished, built, and remodeled, please refer to the plans located on Workplace.)

Current plans are:

• Demolish:
  • Upper level: Administration Hallway, Education Room, Sleep Rooms, Health Information, Clinic,
  • Lower level: Laundry, Materials, IT, Accounting, Conference Room B, Training Rooms, etc.
  • Other: Main entrance canopy
• Remodel:
  • Surgery – converting to ER, moving ambulance garage
  • Radiology – expanding to current Lab and portion of ER
  • Lab – Moving to portion of ER
  • Med/Surg – remodel

Because of the amount of planning going into this project, we expect there will not need to be major renovations anytime soon.

No. LCHC is committed to providing quality, affordable care to our community.

LCHC has been in conversation with financial advisors and are working toward the best solution for our long-term capital needs. We have met with multiple financial advisors to get competitive proposals and are confident the financing will support the project.

Our current building has a large number of issues that need addressed, many of which would come with high costs. Some issues are:

• Non-functioning elevator
• Parking lot in poor condition
• Multiple entrances creating security issues
• Non-ADA entrances
• Poor overall infrastructure across the building, including doors, windows, roofing, and more
• Undersized departments, including medical clinic, with inability to expand
• Lack of privacy due to thin walls and lack of barriers

The new facility will allow us to expand our current services, including:

• Bringing on more providers in our medical clinic to increase access to care for the community
• Bringing on additional specialists in our specialty clinic
• Expanding our surgical services, reducing the need for travel to get surgery
  • New additions: Orthopedic surgery, GYN surgery

Patients may find they are using alternate entrances, different hallways, etc. throughout construction, but our top priority will continue to be providing you with quality care.

Most departments will be relocated in some capacity. The new building plan creates a better flow for our patients, moves patient care departments closer together, and requires less travel throughout the facility. Departments will not be moved until their new “home” is ready for patients.

We do not expect long periods of interruption. We may occasionally need time to get equipment moved, but do not expect any major delays.