Hospital gets OK to build surgical suite
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 10, 2015 1:46 PM
A $25 million expansion project at Wayne Memorial Hospital has received conditional approval from the state Department of Health and Human Services.
"We did receive notification on the 16th that we had 'conditional approval' on our CON (certificate of need) for our operating room replacement project," hospital President Bill Paugh said during the hospital board meeting this morning. "The conditions are not extraordinary. They are what you expect every time you get a certificate of need.
"They are going to ask you again, 'Are you going to play by the rules. Are you going to do this? Are you going to do that?' I responded accordingly and we will see what we get back."
The state is a "little behind" schedule and had not been able to provide the hospital with a "initial impression" on the timeline, Paugh said.
"They have gotten back to us and said it looks good," he said.
State law prohibits health care providers from "acquiring, replacing, or adding to their facilities and equipment, except in specified circumstances, without the prior approval of the Department of Health and Human Services."
The intent of the certificate of need is to restrict "unnecessary increases in health care costs and limits unnecessary health services and facilities based on geographic, demographic and economic considerations."
The hospital filed the request for the certificate of need with the state Department of Health and Human Services in June for the project that includes renovation of 50,000 square feet of existing hospital space and an addition of 40,000 square feet.
The existing space includes operating rooms, endoscopy, post-anesthesia care unit, same-day surgery, registration, pre-admission testing, outpatient lab and staff support spaces.
The anticipated completion date is late 2017.
The hospital has awarded the approximately $2 million construction contract to T.A. Loving Co.
A state-required public hearing before a nearly empty room on the project and certificate of need was held in August.
Paugh and Dr. Ben Eskra, medical staff president, were the only speakers during the public hearing at the Wayne County Public Library.
During the hearing they said the project would enable the hospital to continue to provide and to support "exceptional" patient care both now and in the future.
The project will update and replace the operating rooms that were originally built when the hospital opened in 1970.
One issue is that the operating rooms are being squeezed for space.
Also, the volume has increased in the hospital's endoscopy suite which is separated from the rest of the surgical suite. The two units need to be contiguous in order to share staffing to include anesthesia staffing, Paugh said at the hearing.
Because of the separation staff has to move portable radiography equipment from room to room. The proposed changes will allow the hospital to use fixed radiography equipment in those rooms.