SMCH begins process of gauging community support for $31 project

As Stewart Memorial Community Hospital employees discussed the need for improvements to several parts of the hospital, an emergency room worker offered CEO Cindy Carstens a story that illustrated just what’s wrong with the existing setup.
An elderly woman from out of town was in the emergency room, Carstens said, and when she was discharged, mentioned that she didn’t have a ride home. From another curtained bed, another woman spoke up. The second woman hadn’t seen the first, but recognized the voice, knew which town the first patient lived in and was able to give her a ride.
While that may be friendly and neighborly, it also illustrated just how little privacy there is in the hospital’s small emergency department.
With a proposed $31 million project, emergency beds will get their own, private rooms, Carstens said during a tour of the hospital Nov. 13. The public hearing was the first formal step in a process that will see the hospital take out a $24 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a $4 million local loan and launch a $3 million capital campaign to fund the improvements. Carstens said much the work, which includes a new emergency room and new rehabilitation spaces, will target not just privacy improvements, but also patient and staff safety and patient experience.
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