Groundbreaking starts Community Hospital Rehabilitation Center project

Community Hospital and Community Hospital Health Foundation, top, officials drive loaders across the parking lot to open the groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital's new rehabilitation center. Breaking ground, clockwise from above -- and fighting with sun-baked ground and stubborn dirt clods -- are, from left, Kenneth Bracht, chairman of the Community Hospital's board of directors; Robert Stamm, chairman of the Community Hospital Health Foundation board of directors; Jim Ulrich, Community Hospital's chief operating office; and Gary Bieganski, Community Hospital's president. Community Hospital President Gary Bieganski, above left, quotes an Arabian proverb -- "He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything" -- as he speaks about the health, healing and hope that will be provided by the hospital's new rehab center. Terri Shipshock, executive director of the Community Hospital Health Foundation, welcomes visitors to a "truly momentous occasion," the groundbreaking of the hospital's new rehab center, made possible, she said, by gifts from very generous donors and supporters of the Hospital and Foundation. John J. Berge, district manager in Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson's Scottsbluff office, read a letter from the Senator, who called Community Hospital, its staff and collaborators role models, pioneering a National Incident Management System for natural disaster preparedness; hosting career days for students; and providing progressive thinking in the vital field of healthcare. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

A synchronized parade of heavy-construction loaders opened the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday afternoon for Community Hospital's new rehabilitation center.

The "heavy" equipment spoke for itself. Hospital President Gary Bieganski spoke about the "health, healing and hope" represented by the latest expansion on the Community Hospital campus.

The new rehab center will nearly triple the existing space of the physical, occupational and speech therapy departments and more than double the space of cardiac and pulmonary therapy services.

Enlarging the space will permit staff to treat more patients, allow more room for additional therapy equipment, give patients added privacy and improve patient care and safety.

"For the first time, Community Hospital will be able to provide aquatic therapy to patients on our hospital campus," Bieganski said. "The pool offers privacy, warm water and a controlled room temperature and humidity."

The center will also include an "independent living skills assessment and training "apartment" to help patients learn new skills of daily living.

"The new center will allow our patients to regain their strength, advance their self-confidence and acquire the skills they need to return to work and daily living activities," Bieganski said. "In one word, we trust the new rehabilitation center will being hope to our patients."

John Berge represented McCook native and Nebraska senator Ben Nelson, who wrote, "I have always been proud to call McCook my home." And once again, Nelson wrote, he sees the community growing, as such "exemplary facilities" as the McCook Community Hospital's new rehabilitation center becomes a reality.

The Senator wrote: "Often, health is something we take for granted, but, for those who have witnessed or experienced illness or injury, they will know what a tremendous need will now be met for advanced physical, occupational, speech, cardiac and pulmonary therapy."

Bieganski said the new center will allow the hospital to fulfill its updated strategic plan and mission statement. He emphasized the first two words of the mission: "To excel -- to excel -- at providing for the healthcare needs of our region through quality, efficient and patient-centered care."