Published: June 19, 2009 09:54 pm      

Construction complete at Hamilton County hospital

By KANDACE McCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

McLEANSBORO — Construction of the Hamilton Memorial Family Clinic has been completed, and the clinic is expected to open soon.

The offices of Dr. Asuncion Cope, family nurse practitioner Cindy Lord and Dr. Alec Hood will be located in the new physician clinic at the south end of Hamilton Memorial Hospital.

The new construction is part of the ongoing $18.5 million construction/renovation project at the hospital, according to Randy Dauby, Hamilton Memorial’s chief executive officer.

“Dr. Cope, Cindy Lord and Dr. Hood will be moving from their office close to Food Park, where they’ve been working temporarily until the new construction is done,” Dauby said. “We will be moving in offices (this week) and hope to be in by June 22.”

Dauby stressed that patients of the physicians’ clinic should be aware of the move in the coming days.

There will be a canopy under which people can drive to drop off patients, and there will be two parking spaces designated “handicapped,” as well as eight other parking slots in the new clinic’s parking lot, he said. Other parking spaces may be found in the new parking lot in front of the hospital, Dauby said.

Also, the hospital’s new kitchen and conference center are expected to open in the next couple of weeks, Dauby said, as well as a new patient bed wing which includes six patient rooms.

The hospital’s new front entrance, emergency room and operating room will open upon state inspection and approval, he said.

In January, the hospital allowed tours of the construction site to the community, showing residents the patient room addition behind the hospital, the new kitchen addition behind the nursing center and the new clinic, which had been dry-walled at that time.