Kearney Hospital Expansion Marks Halfway Point

KEARNEY, Neb. — A $40 million hospital expansion is halfway complete at the Kearney Regional Medical Center in Kearney. The 80,000-square-foot expansion will include a number of new features like an emergency department, a maternity services center and more space for intensive care facilities.

The expansion project intends to add 23 patient rooms to its current 21.

Other components of the expansion include a cardiac lab, a maintenance building, a helicopter pad, a pharmacy and a post-anesthesia care unit. A groundbreaking ceremony took place in October and since then, the conference room, a training area and front lobby entrance have been completed.

The hospital expansion is set to open toward the end of year or early 2017. The construction project is managed by Wichita, Kan.-based WDM Architects.

“We are touching almost every area of this hospital,” Director of Support Services Travis Gregg said in a statement. “It’ll be a very warm and inviting building.”

Other areas of construction include an emergency department, which will have five rooms and a trauma bay. The project does not have a completion date yet, since the department expects an increase in patients upon opening, according to Gregg.

For the ICU expansion, three of the six additional rooms have been completed.

“[The ICU] doesn’t have the physical space and equipment to really serve the community and our patients better, so we’re really excited for the Emergency Department,” said Gregg in a statement. “We don’t have to worry about turning a patient away.”

The Maternity Services Center will include a labor and delivery wing with 10 beds, four NICU rooms and one C-section suite. The 44,000-square-foot center will have its own entrance, gift shop and lobby area.

The hospital will add about 100 to 125 new staff members as part of the additions.
KRMC opened in February 2014. The original building was 52,000 to 56,000 square feet.