St. Luke's McCall teams taking final steps to welcome patients into expanded hospital

The new St. Luke's McCall hospital expansion is ready to open and will begin seeing patients on Tuesday, July 18.

“We originally planned to open on July 11, but needed another week to prepare for our state inspection,” St. Luke's McCall Chief Operating and Nursing Officer Amber Green said.

Among the final items to prepare for opening include testing the building systems to meet state code and regulations, working through final department check lists, staff training, stocking supplies, installation of new equipment and coordination of moving equipment.

“Our priority is delivering quality care to our patients and ensuring our health care teams are prepared to care for patients in the new hospital,” Green said.

“I'm so proud of our team and I appreciate everyone’s commitment. It has been a real balancing act to ensure we are providing the best care for patients in our current space, while preparing to move into the new hospital.”

The new entrance to St. Luke's McCall hospital will be open at 5 a.m. Tuesday, July 18. All patients seeking care for emergencies, blood draws and scheduled outpatient appointments in medical imaging, cardiopulmonary and infusion will need to use the new entrances.

There are two new entrances. Patients should use the entrance near the main hospital parking lot located off Forest Street, just north of the old hospital entrance. Signs will be posted directing patients to the new entrance.

The second entrance is located off State Street. Currently this entrance can be used to drop off patients only. There is no parking currently available next to this entrance.

All ambulances transporting patients to the hospital will use the new emergency entrance located off Hewitt Street. If patients are arriving by private vehicle for emergency care, they need to enter the hospital through the main entrance.

Work will continue this summer to complete the site landscaping and paving Hewitt Street. Hewitt Street is expected to open by the end of August.

Completing and moving into the new hospital was the first phase of the overall project. The second phase will include demolishing the 1950s portion of the current hospital to allow for street side parking adjacent to the State Street entrance and remodeling the 1990s portion of the hospital to house the hospital cafeteria, ancillary support departments, administrative offices and conference rooms. The work will take place over the next few years.

Highlights of the revamped hospital include:

• More than doubling the hospital's square footage from 30,000 to 65,000 square feet.
• An expanded emergency department with additional exam rooms, modern trauma bays, an isolation bay, a safe bay and a new triage area and a designated waiting area for patients and family members.
• An expanded surgical services department with an additional operating room for a total of three operating rooms vs. two, plus a procedure room where colonoscopies, pain management and cataract procedures are performed.
• An expanded lab, medical imaging and cardiopulmonary departments to accommodate patients, advanced technology and privacy.
• Modern labor and delivery rooms designed to meet every family's needs and provide a comfortable and safe childbirth experience.
• Private and flexible patient rooms that increase our ability to care for more patients requiring an overnight stay.
• An expanded registration area to increase patient privacy.