Attention!

Kimball Health Services Emergency Room, Hospital & Clinics have moved to our brand new facility at 255 W 4th Street, Kimball NE 69145.
Our phone number has stayed the same (308) 235-1951.

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      Our Location

      505 South Burg Street,

      Kimball, NE 69145

      New Hospital Construction Project

      "Advancing Healthcare for Our Communities"

      New Hospital Move
      Topping Out!

      Despite a record-setting snow storm and arctic cold, the new hospital construction project hit another milestone with the “topping out” of the steel structure. The original ceremony was planned for Wednesday, Dec. 14, but did not take place until Dec. 20.

      Topping out refers to the placement of the last steel beam (or board) in a major construction project and is believed to date back to 700 A.D. when Scandinavians topped their newly completed structures with sheathes of grain for Odin’s horse.

      Kimball Health Services employees, board members, construction crew members and other stakeholders took the opportunity to sign the beam before it was erected. Winter weather can be challenging, but the construction team continues to move forward. Roof decking is been installed and the metal framing is going up. This will allow for the structure to be enclosed and construction to continue, despite the weather. The recent weather has pushed the schedule back a week, but we hope to make this up as we move forward.

      The recent weather has pushed the schedule back a week, but we hope to make this up as we move forward.

       

       

      Project “STEEL” Moving Forward!

      Sunrise over project

      Several loads of steel arrived on site this week along with a very large crane, which will be used for installation. KHS contracted steel nearly a year ago to assure it would be available when needed for the project. Pouring of the concrete slab continues, with an additional 11,000 plus square feet this week. You may have also noticed that the masons have nearly completed the block work for the ambulance garage and de-contamination room, located in the northeast corner of the site. Next week will see lots of activity, as the steel instillation begins!

      It's All About the Concrete!

      Construction Photo 10.25

      Underground work is wrapping up which has enabled the construction crew to begin the process of pouring the concrete slab. Once underground utility work is completed in an area, fill dirt is placed, compacted and leveled. Rebar and vapor barriers are put in place next and finally the concrete slab is poured. Below is the latest aerial image from the site. To date, 10,000 square feet of slab has been poured with plans to pour an additional 16,000 square feet next week. In addition, concrete block wall for the ambulance are going up. The scaffolding used by the masons is visible on the east side of the ambulance garage. The project remains on time and on budget!

      The Outline is Complete!

      9.12.22 Aerial

      Looking from above, you can now see the full outline of the exterior of the new hospital! Over the next couple of weeks the plumbers and electricians will be installing underground plumbing and conduits. The dirt pile moves will continue as the plumbers and electricians move across the site. There will also be some demo of the east wall of the old gym to make an opening for an overhead door and to allow for foundation work inside the gym to be completed. Construction is still on schedule for completion in November of 2023!

      Building a Foundation for a New Future!

      Aerial View New Hospital Construction

      The last few weeks the Haselden crew has been setting forms and pouring concrete. An outline of the new hospital is coming into view. Above is an aerial photo of the construction site taken on Monday, August 15th following heavy rains on Sunday.

      The End of an Era

      North Campus Demo

      The West Elementary building was mostly demolished this week to make way for the new hospital. It marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. The large excavators made quick work of the building and the trucks quickly hauled away the debris. More precision demo will take place in the next week and the relocation of utilities will begin.

      Kimball Hospital Breaks Ground on New Facility

      groundbreaking

      With the turn of 10 ceremonial golden shovels, Kimball Health Services officials broke ground Wednesday on a new $43.6 million hospital, kicking off a long-awaited 18-month construction project to replace its 70-year-old facility.

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      Completion of the new 61,200 square foot hospital on the playground of the former West Elementary School, located two blocks from the current facility in Kimball, is expected in the fall of 2023. A pair of 40-year USDA loans totaling $34.2 million, $6.4 million in general obligation revenue bonds approved by Kimball County, several grants and a capital fundraising campaign of $2.2 million will combine to complete the project’s financing.

      While federal and local officials speaking at Wednesday’s ceremony praised the new hospital’s modern design and touted the positive impact it’s expected to have on the community, Kimball Health Services CEO Ken Hunter focused on the hospital staff and their ability to take local healthcare itself to a new level.

      “The hospital of the future is more than bricks and mortar,” Hunter said. “They alone don’t make a great hospital. People do. Up-to-date facilities matter a lot, but what matters most is the people staffing the hospital and operating the equipment. I’m extremely proud of our health providers and the entire hospital staff and believe they’re more than up to the challenge.”

      Kate Bolz, state director of USDA Rural Development, praised the efforts of local citizens to make the new facility possible.

      “Especially in rural America, access to health care is essential, not only to the wellbeing of patients, but to the wellbeing and vitality of the community,” Bolz said. “I’m proud to be a part of this important work. I know today’s success represents hours of effort from my staff and from the leadership and community members here. More importantly, I know it represents a doubling down on this heartland community, it represents our shared belief that Rural America is hometown America. It represents our spirit and character of caring and tenacious people who invest in ourselves and our communities.”

      Kimball County Commissioner Carl Stander called the groundbreaking an exciting time for the residents of Kimball.

      “I believe it is the responsibility of elected officials to protect and maintain a quality of life for their citizens,” Stander said. “This new hospital project not only protects but greatly improves the quality of life for Kimball County and the surrounding area.”

      Tripling the size of the current hospital, the new Kimball Health Services will feature up-to-date, private patient areas, larger inpatient rooms and bathrooms, wider major corridors, in-house MRI and CT scanner services and numerous other improvements. It will also provide space to accommodate additional services including mammography, cardiac rehabilitation, chemotherapy infusions, orthopedic procedures and expanded surgical options. An expanded physical therapy department will include a walking track and kitchen for home-based activity therapy, an expanded ER department, a covered ambulance bay, a helipad and numerous other improvements.

      General contractors Haselden Construction Co. of Centennial, Colo., whose prior work in the region includes expansion projects for UC Health and Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie, and a new hospital in Meeker, Colo., will get started at the Kimball site after June 1.

      “Haselden is excited to begin construction on this world-class facility to match the world class care provided by Kimball Health Services,” said Eric Blanke, the company’s director of business development. “Kimball Health Services has been serving its rural communities for decades, and we are honored to build this long-awaited facility allowing them to serve for decades more.”

      Dr. Judd Dawson, chief medical officer at KHS, was candid about the need for the new facility. During the last five years, demand for services at the current hospital have steadily increased. Hospital discharges increased 24 percent, specialty clinic visits increased 65 percent, imaging services increased by 50 percent and surgeries increased from 16 in 2016 to 303 in 2019. Dawson said the current 1950s facility wasn’t designed for today’s volumes or patient care needs.

      “The demands on the teams providing care have never been greater,” Dawson said. “Medical knowledge is now estimated to be doubling every 90 days. The need to integrate technology into the everyday is here and now and without it, we will not be able to get new talent. We will not have the space to provide care for you and your loved ones, or the infrastructure to accommodate services that are needed.”

      Jim Cederburg is chairman of the KHS Board of Trustees and chairman of the Kimball Hospital Foundation’s capital campaign to raise public support for the project.

      “The hospital senior staff has worked very hard to make a new hospital in Kimball a coming reality,” Cederburg said. “The citizens in our local communities have also been consistently in strong support of the project and have generously contributed to the capital campaign.

      “The new hospital will prove to be a treasured and valuable asset for our communities,” he concluded. “I can imagine a time when one of us will be in the hospital as an inpatient and a grandchild will ask, ‘“Did you find it, or was it already there?’ You will know how to respond. You can say with confidence, ‘No, we put it there.”’

      A video of the full ceremony is available here!

      What are we planning?

      Construction of a new single-story, 61,000 square foot hospital.  Construction begins in May 2022 and completion is scheduled for fall 2023.

      New Hospital Concept

      New Hospital Lobby New Hospital ER New Hospital PT Gym

      Why Do We Need A New Hospital?

      Kimball Why Now

      INCREASED DEMAND


      By the numbers

      How Will This Be Financed?

      The project will be funded through a USDA loan, County revenue bond, and private donation through this capital campaign.

      Finance Pie Chart

      To do more, we need to be more!

      • Larger inpatient rooms and bathrooms, wider major corridors
      • Modernized and expanded surgical suites
      • In-house CT and MRI Services
      • Critical updates to electrical, mechanical and broadband systems
      • Additional Services:
        • Mammography
        • Chemotherapy infusions
        • Cardiac rehabilitation
        • Expanded surgical options
        • Orthopedic procedures
        • Expanded physical therapy

      Advancing Healthcare for Our Communities Capital Campaign

      The Kimball Hospital Foundation is conducting the "Advancing Healthcare for Our Communities" capital campaign in support of the new hospital project.  Click HERE to learn more or donate.  You may also contact the Kimball Hospital Foundation at (308) 235-1967 or email foundation@kimballhealth.org.  Contributions to the Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit public charity, are tax deductible as allowed by law.

      Frequently Asked Questions:

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      Why now?

      • High risk of hospital operation disruption

      • Low interest rates

      • Kimball Health Services is financially stable

      • Population growth due to missile project

      Where would the new hospital be located?

      The proposed facility will be located at the current Kimball Health Services North Campus location. It will include an 6,000 square foot renovation of the former West Elementary School gym & basement  and the construction of a new 55,000 square foot, single-story hospital just east of the current structure.

      What will happen to the old hospital?

      Options for repurposing or site development are being explored, however, the project includes demolition and disposal of the current facility, if needed.

      How can a new hospital impact our community?

      Critical Access Hospitals are important for retaining and recruiting residents, businesses and industry to the area – and often serve as one of the larger employers in their community. This is true for KHS, which employs over 120 individuals. There are many positive impacts that are realized with a new hospital, here are just a few possibilities:

      • Estimate of $1.2 million in project increase in employment

      • $8.3 million in annual wages, contracts and benefits

      • Construction project would generate 200 jobs with over $7 million in salaries over 2 years

      • If 10% is spent in the county, we could expect approximately $700,000 in additional sales and services over 2 years

      • Beautification of downtown and mitigation of two outdated structures

      • Expanded options give residents a choice to receive high quality care in a modern facility close to home

      What will the project cost?

      The project is estimated to cost just over $43 million.

      Critical access hospitals such as KHS are reimbursed by Medicare for costs incurred for both inpatient and outpatient services, including allowable costs such as depreciation and interest related to building projects. This means Medicare can be expected to reimburse KHS for more than 50% of the project cost.

      Will this increase my taxes?

      Limited risk to taxpayers.

      Kimball Health Services does not receive county funds and has not received funds for over 20 years. The hospital and clinic are supported solely by the revenue generated from their operation. The expectation of this project is that any bonds sold for financing will be paid back using hospital generated revenues.

      An independent financial feasibility study determined that "sufficient funds could be generated to meet Kimball Health Services' operating expenses, working capital needs and debt service requirements associated with the new facility."
       

      What will the renovations and updates include?

      Renovations and updates will include:

      • 6,000 SF renovation of the former West Elementary School gym & basement

      • Construction of a new single-story, 55,000 SF hospital east of the current structure

      Floor plan

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