Paving project clears way for better access to new hospital facility

Access to Community Hospital’s emergency room is back to normal with completion of the paving project on East J Street in McCook.

Bruce Crosby/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. — Access to Community Hospital’s emergency room is back to normal with the completion of a paving project on East J Street in McCook.

The project will “be much better for traffic flow, especially for the delivery trucks and mobile services that access this side of the facility,” said Blake Bethell, maintenance director for the hospital.

The street is much wider now, has better water runoff and the deep ditches on the side of the street are gone.

Dirtwork is underway on the west side of Community Hospital, so storage buildings can be relocated to make way for additional parking for the main buildings.

Bruce Crosby/McCook Gazette

“Over the years, we have had several vehicles slide off the road into the ditches in the winter time, which is a big safety issue,” Bethell said.

The project adds about 30 parking spaces to help replace parking that will be lost with the construction of a new addition to the hospital.

In December, the hospital announced a plan to increase or remodel space for the Medical Specialists Center, Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, kitchen, laboratory, mobile testing trucks and patient entrances and parking.