Sandusky, Mich.-based McKenzie Health System is moving forward with its plans for a new hospital to replace its current McKenzie Memorial Hospital and modernize the hospital system.
"We don't have working drawings, but we have drawings that really are comprehensive and construction companies can refine the budget off of that," Steve Barnett, CRNA, president and CEO of McKenzie Health System, told Becker's. "We are waiting for a financial feasibility study report. This should be to us sometime between now and mid-January. That goes into the USDA application."
With an estimated price tag of $65 million, Mr. Barnett said the new hospital would be around 65,000 square feet, about 20,000 square feet larger than the current hospital. "It really allows you to bring departments up to the size that they need to be in today's world," he said.
While the services won't be much different than what McKenzie Memorial currently provides, Mr. Barnett said there will be gained efficiencies with the way the building will be designed: "The departments within the building will be able to move patients through in a much more streamlined fashion and create a level of security that we don't even come close to obtaining right now in our current facility."
Once the USDA application is submitted, Mr. Barnett said he hopes they will act on it over the next 120 days. If all goes as planned, Mr. Barnett hopes to have the hospital completed by 2025.
"Most importantly, I hope that this building will serve this community well for the next 30 or 40 years because of how we're designing it," he said.
There are no existing plans for the current hospital should a new one be approved, but Mr. Barnett told Becker's that he would like to see the building provide mental health services: "It's about finding a partner. We're just not ready to do that yet, but as soon as this building gets moving, the new one, then it'll be time to work on that."