OSKALOOSA —
Those from the USDA visited Mahaska Health Partnership Tuesday to view the hospital’s new addition project.
Bill Menner, state director for the Rural Development division of the United States Department of Agriculture, took a tour of the new addition currently under construction on the Mahaska Health Partnership campus Tuesday.
The project, which spans 52,000 square feet, earned a roughly $23 million loan from the USDA in April 2011.
Menner said he enjoys being able to see projects in rural areas that the USDA has had some part in. He also cited other projects in Oskaloosa that have received USDA funds including the hospital’s new addition and William Penn University’s new dorm project, among others.
The in-patient experience will be improved by the new MHP addition, said Menner.
“More than anything, I think it’s building for the future,” said Menner. “MHP is kind of, you know, setting a marker that says, ‘this is how health care is going to operate in the 21st century and, as they were looking at how to fund that vision, it turned out that our role as a lender was a good fit for them and we’re glad about that.”
The Community Facilities Loan and Grant Program helped fund the MHP, project, noted Menner.
“It’s targeted toward what are considered essential public facilities,” explained Menner, noting that public facilities can include fire stations, libraries, schools and hospitals.
Congress provides the USDA with money, which become loans and grants to help finance projects like this, Menner further explained.
“In reality, this comes because Congress sees a benefit in investing in rural communities,” said Menner.
Menner said he’s seen around a dozen hospital projects in various stages of construction throughout Iowa. He said he could see how the new addition will integrate into the existing MHP campus and that he is excited to see it when it is completed.
The project includes new in-patient surgical rooms and a new in-patient birthing center. New surgery and endoscopic suites will also be included in the expansion project.
MHP CEO Jay Christensen noted that patient privacy and infection control will be big parts of the new addition to the MHP campus. He also noted that the project will improve temperature control throughout the entire campus with the replacement of two large boilers, cooling tower and a chiller.
Christensen said the new addition remains on track to be completed in late summer or early fall of 2013.
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Herald City Editor Andy Goodell can be reached at news2@oskyherald.com.
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Related Photos
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Mahaska Health Partnership CEO Jay Christensen, left, is joined on a tour of MHP’s new addition by Bill Menner of the Rural Development division of the United States Department of Agriculture Tuesday. Herald photo by Andy Goodell
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