By Mike Grant
Washington Times-Herald
WASHINGTON, Ind. — Support is piling up for a new building to house the Daviess Community Hospital Ambulance Service in Washington.
DCH officials have been drumming up support for the project that will lead to the construction of a building that will not only house the ambulances located in Washington but also serve as a base of operation for on-duty EMTS and paramedics.
“We are really excited. We are applying for the OCRA grant to help us build the EMS facility. We just held the public hearing. We are very grateful for the public support of that,” said DCH Chief Financial Officer April Settles.
Besides petition support, the hospital has received letters backing the project from both Congressman Larry Bucshon and from the Daviess County Commissioners. The county has also agreed to provide up to $200,000 for matching funds.
“It just stated the importance of the ambulance system to Daviess County and the fact that the building will really enhance the ambulance service by providing accommodations for the paramedics and EMTs instead of them staying inside of the hospital,” said President of the Daviess County Commissioners Nathan Gabhart. “Now, they can have their own quarters, their own kitchen, their own setting.
“It will provide a better work environment.”
DCH officials are expressing confidence that they will land the grant and get the project done.
“We had the public hearing and we had a great turnout and lots of comments,” said hospital CEO Tracy Conroy. “We have met the income portion of it. We really have met everything requested of us. We feel positive about it. We are waiting to find out in early February if we are approved.”
“This is the most logical next step. It’s going to be a great thing for Daviess County,” added Gabhart.
Officials are anticipating receiving word on the project in the coming months with construction starting soon after that. The work on the ambulance building is expected to begin while the hospital wraps up the second phase of a nearly $9 million construction project. So far, the project is both on schedule and under budget. That work is expected to begin soon in the emergency department.
“Taking a short breath on our building project. It is going to be challenging, at least more challenging than med-surg was. With med-surg we were able to vacate the area totally,” said Conroy. “In ED we can’t do that. We will be going down a couple of rooms. That is also during our busy season; January, February and March. That is when we see more COVID, flu, RSV and we are going to have to move our patients more quickly through the process.”
The plan is that when the work is done the ED will become much larger, but it will be constricted during construction.
“Currently we have nine E.D. rooms. We will drop to the five old ICU rooms, two of the ED rooms and the triage room,” said DCH VP of Nursing Nancy Devine. “It is going to be a challenge because of the unfamiliar flow.”
Hospital officials opened the Acute Care Unit, which consists of a newly combined ICU and med-surg operation, in December. The second phase of the renovation should be done late this summer.
“That challenge will be worth it because the benefit at the end drastically outweighs the temporary issues. In the end we will have a better facility for the staff, the patients, and the community. It’s just all around much better,” said Devine.
The work on the ambulance building will be on land the hospital owns that is not attached to the current building.
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