Coulee Medical Center's New Beginnings

PRESORTED STANDARD

A Supplement to The Star Newspaper October 13, 2010

U.S. Postage Paid Coulee Dam WA 99116 Permit #12 ECRWSS Postal Patron

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As seen from the air in this photograph taken in May, the new hospital is about double the size of the old, with all rooms now private instead of shared, closet-size offices replaced with room to work in, and exam room, operating rooms and emergency rooms that reflect the hospital’s growth to five times the original operation.

Welcome to the new hospital P

lanning and forethought make their mark on the new hospital Unlike the old hospital, patients and staff alike will enjoy plenty of room, coordinated in every way for form and function. Visitors to the new Coulee Medical Center will immediately observe several basic things. The color scheme, of brown desert tones, are used throughout the building. Everything will be new and provide comfortable settings for patients and their families.

And the new hospital is roomy, allowing comfort zones in patient areas and for staff to work in.

The different departments are logically located, indicating that a lot of thought by hospital commissioners, planners and architects went into the project, working with hospital staff.

Special care for patient privacy is apparent throughout the building. All patient rooms are private, with their own bathrooms. Measures have been taken to keep patient care away from public access places.

The new kitchen is textbook.

Every conceivable need has been planned for. Dining there, whether you are a member of the public or a patient, will be a real treat. That’s

correct, you can visit your loved one in the hospital and go down to the kitchen and purchase something to eat.

In the clinic wing of the hospital there are 23 separate stations. Everything is convenient for the care providers, and spacious.

Down in the hospital section, visitors will be able to see one of the two operating rooms fully equipped. The other remains in the old hospital and is still being utilized until the full move to the new hospital is made sometime in November.

A new CT Scan unit is being installed, along with new mammography and bone scan equipment. You’ll get to see these also.

A room is even being designated for future chemotherapy. Some chemo procedures will be done here, relieving patients of the inconvenience of having to drive some place else for treatment.

Long-term care patients will be able to view the courtyard from dining and other places of gathering.

Later a water treatment, possibly a fountain, will be placed in the out-ofdoors space.

The hospital heli-pad became operational again about 10 days ago.

While some new concrete was being poured and other activity was going on, the medical helicopters have had to land at the region’s airport, to which patients were transported by ambulance.

For safety factors, about six feet of

the old heli-pad was removed and an expanded pad added to the remaining pad on the other end.

At the grand opening Oct. 19, you can judge for yourself just how convenient the new hospital will be for patients, staff and visitors.

Congratulations CMC Take the Grand Opening Tour And See What A Great Facility We Now Have In Our Community

Grand Coulee Physical Therapy

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Hospital tours offered at opening

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ant to see what the new Coulee Medical Center looks like inside?

Here’s your chance.

Shortly after the 11 a.m. ribbon cutting Tuesday, Oct. 19, tour guides will take visitors through the hospital. Tours will continue until 4 p.m.

Hospital Administrator Scott Graham said officials plan to keep the groups small enough so each person will be able to get the full benefit of the tour and be able to hear the information guides provide.

He said the groups will probably be eight to 10 in size. Tours will be conducted as soon as a new group is ready, and leave from different places.

There will be several tours going at the same time.

Wear comfortable shoes, visitors are advised, because the tours could take a half hour or more.

Visitors will be able to see the two operating rooms and technical equipment, and an expanded emergency room area along with all the hospital departments.

The clinic is to the right of the reception area and the hospital is on the left.

Visitors will become acquainted with several new features the hospital offers.

Coulee Medical Center We’re Growing With You!

Congratulations On Your New Hospital.

We’re Happy To Serve Your Everyday Needs!

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Coulee Medical Center

On The Opening Of The Community’s New Hospital

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416 Midway Grand Coulee, WA 509-633-1090 Open 7 Days a Week

Shop online: www.couleehardware.com

Congratulations

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Workers are busy Tuesday morning in what will become the entryway to the new hospital and clinic complex.

Entrance offers big first impression Local talent put to work

by Roger S. Lucas

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he first impression you get of the all-new Coulee Medical Center is that it is spacious.

One feature that will make a visit to the hospital, laboratory or clinic, easier is the single check-in station

right in front of you as you enter the door.

Check in and you’ll be directed to the place you want to visit.

The lobby, roomy and cheerful, will feature wifi wireless Internet access.

So bring your laptop and take care of business while you wait.

Not only that, but you will be able to enjoy the variety of earth tones that are used throughout the building in the floor coverings, tiles, and paint colors. It is a fitting motif for a hospital located on the edge of the

desert.

Near the check-in station, and overhead, you’ll see the metal CMC logo created by Leonard and Dale Taylor of Electric City. Richard Button, of Button Custom Graphics in Grand Coulee, is making all of the interior department signs.

“We tried to use as much local talent as we could in doing the hospital,” Julie Bjorklund stated.

The aisles to the left lead to the 26 hospital private patient beds, laboratory and technical equipment.

To the right is the clinic and its 26 patient stations, spacious, with room to grow.

Knowing the facility covers 69,000 square feet helps one realize just how large it is.

The growth has been in services as well as the staff growth from 35 employees in 1973 to 180 today.

Hospital rooms, all private, have flat-screen TVs and their own private bathrooms, features that will be appreciated by those being treated.

Congratulations on your new facility and for continually improving health care for your many patients; from the business that’s currently celebrating its 75th Anniversary

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Dennis King looks over one of the many photographs he is preparing for the Coulee Medical Center’s permanent art collection. The photos, all framed by King, will be scattered throughout the new building and will show wildlife, farming, canyon, Grand Coulee Dam construction scenes and many other photos from King’s collection, as well as many coordinated by the Colville Tribes.

Art collection to decorate halls

by Roger S. Lucas

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ant to take a walk through time and the Grand Coulee Dam area?

You can at the new Coulee Medical Center. There’s artwork in the form of photographs everywhere.

Some 200 pieces of photography will highlight the area from the past to the present.

Many of the photographs were taken by Dennis King, Coulee Dam photographer, who also is doing the framing through his firm, The Frame King.

“We wanted to get people acquainted or re-acquainted with the area,” Ramona Hicks said. She along with Julie Bjorklund, Dr. Andrew Castrodale, Kari Schuler, Greg Behrens and Kelly Neddo, all worked on the project, which started in July. The

Emergency rooms greatly expanded

T

he new hospital will have a much larger emergency room, with two trauma units and two examining rooms.

That’s twice what the old hospital has, and the space given to that department is several times as large.

The emergency unit will have its own nurse’s station.

Ambulances will deliver patients to the east side of the hospital at a special entrance, and family and friends who are with patients will enter through the hospital’s main doors and be directed to the emergency room by attendants there.

The emergency department is conveniently positioned so patients, if their condition requires, have access to the helipad for transfer to Spokane or other places for specialized care.

group is hopeful that many of the photographs will be hanging by the grand opening on Oct. 19.

The photography artwork will be scattered throughout the hospital and clinic. The artwork features wildlife, historic pictures, the farm area surrounding the Grand Coulee area, the old “B” Street, Grand Coulee Dam and the people that built it, and Native American chiefs and people.

“We plan some 40 Native American pieces, which are all being ap-

proved by the Colville Confederated Tribes,” Hicks said. “The tribes have four separate historic groups going through the photographs and providing their approval for use.”

The photos are all being framed with identical materials with acidfree mounts, so they will remain crisp and clear for a long time, an official said.

The photo/art display is largely being financed by a gift from the Coulee Medical Center Guild.

Thank You CMC

For Giving The Area A New And Updated Medical Facility

www.trailwestmotel.com

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CMC’s new CT Scan equipment will have the capacity to take 32 slices (digital pictures) per rotation, compared to four with the older equipment.

Imaging technology greatly upgraded

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isitors will get to see the hospital’s new 32-slice CT Scan equipment during

that quarter inch, the clearer the picture medical providers get of the patient.

The old hospital’s older machine had a four-slice resolution, so the new machine is eight times as clear.

The result is transferred to a computer terminal which gives technicians a good reading of what is occurring in the area of your body being scanned.

Each slice gives a slightly different view.

Visitors will also be able to see the new mammography machine and the

the tour.

The hospital staff is particularly proud of this new machine, which cost about $750,000.

The machine, with some software changes, can be converted into a 64-slice scan machine, but that’s not going to occur soon, hospital authorities have noted.

CT (computed tomography) scanning combines special x-ray equipment with sophisticated computers to produce multiple images of the inside of the body. The cross-sectional images of the area being studied can then be examined on a computer monitor, printed or transferred to a CD. The CT scanner takes digital pictures from every angle with 32 “slices” about every quarter inch as it rotates around the body. The more slices packed into A shiny new floor emerges as a worker buffs the tiles.

new bone density machine.

The equipment will permit technicians to conduct more specialized tests for providers and enable more exams to be done at Coulee Medical Center.

MRI services will still be handled by a visiting unit in a specialized

truck and trailer.

The hospital’s X-ray machine is also almost new. The old one had to be replaced just as plans were being drawn up for the new hospital, so its specifications were included in the new design.

Congratulations

CMC

On Your New Hospital.

It’s Back!!

All You Can Eat Fish Fry Wednesday Night Begins October 20

BAR & GRILLE

on the Midway, Grand Coulee 509.633.8382

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Taste of what’s to come The café promises to serve up good food to staff and visitors.

THANK YOU

Board of Commissioners, Administrators & Staff For Your Commitment To Our Communities.

We’re Proud Of What You Are Doing For Us!

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You Are Invited

Coulee Medical Center is pleased to invite you to the

RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY & OPEN HOUSE Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 • 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Guided Tours will begin following the ceremony.

Dr. Jacob Chaffee, Ramona Hicks, Julie Bjorklund, J. Scott Graham, Kurt Canaday, Alan Wagner, Debbie Bigelow

The Coulee Medical Center Executive Team is looking forward to seeing you at the Open House

Shuttle bus transportation to and from the celebration will be available at North Dam Park beginning at 10:00 a.m.

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The new Coulee Medical Center will be a state-of-the-art facility offering technology, services, and patient amenities designed to fully serve the healthcare needs of our vibrant community.

Just Look at Everything New that We Have Waiting For You EXCLUSIVELY PRIVATE ROOMS FLAT SCREEN TV (in every room) ADVANCED DESIGN BEDS FULL SERVICE CAFÉ CONFIDENTIAL WAITING ROOMS

GREATER EMERGENCY AND TRAUMA CAPACITY EXPANDED PERFORMANCE CT SCAN DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY NEW GENERATION IV PUMPS & MONITORS PATIENT SAFETY LIFT SYSTEM

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE

We will offer all PRIVATE ROOMS in our new hospital, affording our patients and their guests complete confidentiality and comfort during their stay. Rooms will include 32” FLAT SCREEN TVs, a private bathroom and the latest advancement in hospital beds to provide both support and safety during the healing process.

THE HEALTHCARE EXPERIENCE

Our new facility will offer greater technology with an advanced CT Scan, digital mammography, expanded emergency and trauma capacity as well as the latest in patient safety devices including new generation IV pumps and monitors, a baby watch system and lifting/transferring equipment.

YOUR ONGOING CARE

While our facility will be brand new, our excellent care and service will remain consistent which includes our clinic and our full line of services including Family Practice, Obstetrics, Orthopedics, Cardiology, Oncology, and Podiatry.

Please join us on October 19th for our OPEN HOUSE and enjoy the new Coulee Medical Center.

We wish to thank our Community for your continued support of the Medical Center and your patience during our construction phase.

Special thanks to the Coulee Medical Center Board of Commissioners: Rick King (Chair), Greg Behrens, Tom Edwards, Kris Hare, Geary Oliver.

Through their vision and leadership our new medical center has become a reality.

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Congratulations CMC

These Local Businesses Are Proud To Be A Part Of The Celebration Of The New Hospital • Body By Dam • Coulee Dam Casino • Fuller & Sons • Pit’s Place • Siam Palace • H&H Grocery

• Harvest Foods • Highway Tire • Investment Services Northwest • LeMaster & Daniels • Shaw’s Fruit & Produce

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• Sunbanks Resort • State Farm Insurance • Les Schwab Tires • Coulee Playland • King’s Court • Jess Ford • All American Spacer Company • D&M Gardens & Spring Canyon Alpacas • CR Lumber • Coulee Dam Concrete • Jackson’s Chevron • The Trading Post • Colville Tribal Federal Corp.

• Melody Restaurant • A.J. Gerard Building Company • Hometown Pizza • Fusion Cafe • Needles & Hooks • Seaton’s Grove Greenhouse • Lawrence Rehn, DDS • Bird’s Auto Glass & Body Shop • Coulee House Inn & Suites • DWK Fowler Const.

• GCD School District • Dr. Duane L. Rana • Star Publishing Inc.

Thank You CMC

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Merging the operations of the existing hospital and separate clinic into one efficient facility required planning collaboration between architects and staff members over many months. The resulting plan by KDF Architecture reflects the desire for patient comfort and convenience merged with an efficient workflow.

support our local hospital.

People Helping People

Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union is proud to support our local hospital.

Contact us today for all your financial needs!

www.cdfcu.com 800-572-5678 Almira | Brewster | Bridgeport | Coulee Dam | Creston | Omak | Republic Mild weather in the fall and winter of 2009 helped the project move along on time, with concrete crews able to pour without too many problems. Even as the season caught up with traditional temperatures, crews brought in special heating pumps and blankets to get the work done.

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Old becomes new

A tour of the facility under constructions ends on the new/old helipad. The original one built by the Grand Coulee Dam Rotary Club remains as the foundation of the new one, which has been added to and upgraded.

rogress

s all p u g n i w o h s r o f s Thank

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Scott Hunter ommerce President a Chamber of C re A am D e le Grand Cou

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In a new light A tour group last week witnesses the very first lighting of a new overhead lamp in one of the surgery rooms.

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Two surgical operating rooms allow room to grow

isitors during Coulee Medical Center’s open house next Tuesday will get to see two operating rooms.

“Better see them then, because when tours are over they will be sterilized and off limits to the public,” Kurt Canaday, chief nursing officer, stated.

The two separate operating rooms, identical to each other, will be able to handle two operations at the same time, if the need arises.

Say you are a surgeon, operating on a patient, and the electric service goes off. No need to panic, a reserve diesel generator will automatically turn on, and everything throughout the hospital will continue to function.

When making the tour, notice the red colored outlets throughout the building.

They tap into the alternative electrical network.

Canaday administers the operating rooms, the emergency rooms, the technical equipment including the CT Scan, mammography and bone density equipment, While Coulee Medical Center now has only one surgeon, two of the family providers handle some operating procedures. “And it gives us room to grow,” Canaday said.

One of the operating rooms will be set up for visitors to see next Tuesday, and the other will be equipped from the existing operating room in the present hospital.

Hospital officials are hopeful that orthopedic surgeons who now treat patients from this area will do some of their operations in the new facility.

A technician tests the luminance of an exam room light to see that it meets specifications.

CMC

Congratulations on a Great Achievement

Graham Construction & Management, Inc. is proud to have been part of the team delivering the new Coulee Medical Center.

www.graham.ca

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You’ve Reached the Future

KDF Architecture appreciates the opportunity to work with the staff at Coulee Medical Center, and thanks all those who participated in the design process.

• context • exploration • collaboration

www.kdfarchitecture.com

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