By Mary-Justine Lanyon
After accepting a check for $3,000 from President Mary Ann Dickinson at a meeting of the Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club, Mark Turner, CEO of Mountains Community Hospital, updated the club on the upgrades being done at the hospital.
The new waiting room and registration area, he reported, opened to the public on Nov. 1. “You no longer have to go through the emergency room,” Turner said. He urged folks to stop in and admire the new area.
They hope to start construction soon on the new gift shop area. They are awaiting approval from the state to do that construction, something that should happen in the next few months.
The pharmacy will be relocated to an area off the main entryway. The relocation was necessitated by the current location not being in compliance with state and federal regulations. The demo has been done, Turner said, but they found some “surprises” when they opened up the ceiling. “We hope to be done by the end of the year.”
MCH plans to have a new acute care wing in place by 2030. That, Turner noted, “will bring us into the modern era. More importantly, it will bring us into compliance for seismic regulations. We’re on the fast track for funding and hope to begin construction by the first or second quarter of 2026.”
Turner further noted that it “takes that long to line up financing through the USDA, to develop the architectural plans and get state approval.”
This new wing will be off the current emergency room entrance, taking up part of the parking area. “We’re still figuring out where to go with future parking spots,” Turner said. “We haven’t figured out a long-term solution but we are working on it.”
As for those seismic requirements, Turner said they have a small team assembled ready to advocate with lawmakers for any required adjustments to the timeline. “We can’t afford to have any hospital in the state close,” he said. “I think the legislators in our area are very supportive of our hospitals and will be open to making any necessary changes.”
Back to the parking solutions: Turner said they currently have “bottlenecks” on Tuesdays and Thursdays as that is when the doctors are present. “We will start planning a solution this spring,” he said.
The medical office building, located next to the hospital, is getting a facelift: roofing, siding, hallway paint colors. They are also renovating the Rural Health Clinic to improve accessibility.
Turner introduced several other members of the MCH staff, who updated the Rotarians on their areas of expertise.
Kim McGuire, the director of community development and director of the MCH Foundation, thanked the Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club for its consistent donations. “This club has been donating to the Foundation for 30 years – nearly $40,000,” she said. “We wouldn’t have state-of-the-art equipment without the community’s support.”
Last year, McGuire said, the Foundation raised $650,000, $100,000 more than the previous year.
Julie Davis, the acute care manager, oversees the emergency department and the med-surg unit. “Your donations save lives,” she told the Rotarians. The defibrillator, which the club’s donation that day would support, “does more than shock people. It treats AFIB. We use it for pacing if a patient’s heartbeat is too slow. We use defibrillators weekly and are getting four – two in the ER, one in surgery, one in med-surg.
“The defibrillator is one of our best lifesaving tools in the hospital. The donations you make really matter. We value you.”
Abby Savich, the marketing and events manager, alerted the Rotarians to a couple of upcoming dates. The Summit Circle dinner will take place on June 6 at SkyPark. Le Grand Picnic, held in the Rose Garden at MCH, is scheduled for July 21 with a Field of Dreams baseball theme.
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