City clears way for hospital expansion

The McCook City Council cleared the way Monday night at its regular meeting for a major expansion project at Community Hospital.

A special exception for Community Hospital was approved by the McCook City Council Monday night and will allow the hospital to expand its current facility by about 42,000 square feet.

The current hospital was completed in 1974 and predates current city zoning laws, City Manager Kurt Fritsch said. The current structure is grandfathered into current zoning laws and Fritsch said the special exception is needed now for this expansion and also to allow for future growth at the hospital.

The project is estimated to be between $18-22 million and will take about two and half years to complete, Community Hospital CEO Jim Ulrich told the council Monday night. Phase I will include a new patient wing and Phase II will be a new surgery area and outpatient rooms/observation areas.

Between the phases, demolition will take place but patient services will not be interrupted at that time, Ulrich said in response to a question by Councilman Aaron Kircher.

The patient rooms will be west of the current pods and Ulrich estimated that construction could start in October.

The project is ambitious and sounded great, stated Council member Colleen Grant. Ulrich said the project is under an aggressive time frame and that the expansion would allow Community Hospital to provide services to the community and nearby areas far into the future.