Ribbon-cutting ceremony for new hospital draws impressive crowd

Ribbon-cutting ceremony for new hospital draws impressive crowd

Baptist- Crittenden set to open Dec. 3

news@theeveningtimes.com

After 1,520 days without a hospital, Crittenden County now has a brand new facility that will take care of the health care needs of residents far into the future.

A packed house filled the lobby Monday to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the new Baptist Memorial Hospital — Crittenden.

The $45 million, 65,000 square foot hospital debuted to enthusiastic cheers as officials recalled the efforts to bring health care back to the county, and the faith of the voters who supported it with their tax dollars.

“This is such a special day for the county,” said Baptist Memorial Hospital-Crittenden CEO Brian Welton said. “It took some time to get here working through a number of issued like soil conditions here that you all refer to as gumbo … but we made it to this day.”

The new hospital, which is set to open its doors Dec. 3, will have 11 patient rooms, two operating rooms, endoscopy room, cancer infusion center, and other services.

The emergency room is expected to see 26,000 patients a year.

Welton said the facility was designed with the patient and the patient’s family in mind to make health care as easily accessible as possible.

“Whether it is the location off I-40 to be able to provide access to the community; whether it is the parking right up against the hospital that makes it easy to get in and get out and not have to walk down around the block and in here to figure out where you need to go to get your health care services; whether it is having a cancer center where the patient can come in and register, get their labs drawn, and sit in an infusion chair for care and not have to go anywhere else in the hospital; everything we did, we designed this hospital with the patient in mind,” Welton said.

Baptist Memorial Hospital-Crittenden will eventually employ about 100 workers, many of which live in the community and used to work at the former Crittenden Regional Hospital and are excited to be able to work in the new facility, Welton said.

“I’ve not seen a group who is more passionate about being able to come here and work at this hospital and take care of patients that are their neighbors and people they see at the grocery store,” Welton said. “I think that will lend itself well to the culture we have here. And I couldn’t be more excited about the team that we have today and the team that will be taking care of our patients.”

Baptist Memorial Healthcare CEO Brian Little said that they are pleased to be offering health care in Crittenden County.

“We are grateful for the trust that this community has placed in Baptist,” Little said. “ And just like all the communities that we partner with in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, I am here to tell you today that we won’t let you down.”

Little admitted that Crittenden County was not in their plans for expansion, but said Judge Woody Wheeless’s vision for the need of a hospital to serve county residents was too compelling to say no to.

“I can’t say enough about Judge Wheeless,” Little said. “ When Judge Wheeless called and asked if I would come over and take a look, I would have been the first to tell you that we did not have on our strategic plan any design pinned in a map that said Crittenden County. But like a lot of visions that became contagious, when you come over and listen to Judge Wheeless and his vision for the community, and hear him describe the health care needs of you all in this community, we couldn’t help but say yes and be a part.” Little joked that they weren’t quite prepared for the extreme soil conditions they had to deal with to build the structure. Over 160 millions pounds of dirt had to be hauled in and they had to put in 3,200 earthquake drainage systems that had to be driven 50 feet down into the ground to support the structure.

“We weren’t quite clear on what that dirt looked like when we placed the shovel in and how many piers we were going to have to build,” Little said.

“But nevertheless, the enthusiasm never waned.

This is your hospital — a hospital built for this community, by this community, and we are just really pleased that Baptist gets to be partnered in that.”

Wheeless said that the opening of the new hospital is a great ending to a long journey that started four years ago.

“We had a bad situation in our county when our hospital closed four years ago,” Wheeless said.

“There were so many obstacles that were in front of us we thought we would never get across and never get past leading to this day. But through fighting and working and continuing to work forward, it did become a reality. We have an opportunity for health care to be here for a long time. And that was our goal from the beginning.

We’ve got a strong partnership with Baptist and I am grateful to them.”

Crittenden Regional Hospital declared bankruptcy and closed its doors in 2014 leaving behind more than $30 million in debt and Wheeless scrambling to find another hospital.

After a deal with Nashville-based Ameris Health Systems fell through, the county got good news in December 2015 when Baptist signed a deal to build a new hospital on North Seventh Street along I-40.

Wheeless said the county was at a dead end when he got a call from Dr. Scott Ferguson on Labor Day in 2015 asking if it was okay for Rick Williams, who had a relationship with Baptist, to reach out to them about coming over to look at the former hospital building.

Naturally, he said yes.

Little came over and toured the old hospital then came back with a plan to instead build a new hospital.

“It was probably the best phone call I ever had,” Wheeless said. “And the end result today is the best I’ve ever had. We achieved something that I really didn’t think we could achieve, to be honest with you. But I do believe in working hard and never giving up.

And that’s why we are here today.”

Wheeless said the hospital would not be possible without the support of the people of Crittenden County.

Voters went to the polls and passed a one cent sales tax that will generate over $30 million over five years to build and operate the hospital. Baptist is picking up the remaining $15 million of the construction cost, and will have a 10year lease with a 10-year renewal option.

“I owe every bit of credit to everyone of you in this room because without you believing in our vision and what we were trying to accomplish, supporting a sales tax, we wouldn’t even be in this room today,” Wheeless said.

“Thank you for supporting us. I think you will see that your tax dollars were spent wisely.”

By Mark Randall