Olney Hamilton Hospital meets with stakeholders on new facility

Olney Hamilton Hospital administrators sounded out staff and community members about plans for a new hospital in a series of meetings on Nov. 7 with the proposed project’s architects and builders.

The hospital has been operating for 115 years and was last updated in the 1960s. OHH Administrator Michael Huff said the plan to replace the existing hospital was made possible by new wind farm projects and a hydrogen plant that recently located within the hospital’s taxing district.

“In between those two projects, it is going to spin off a considerable amount of revenue that we haven’t seen in the history of this hospital,” Mr. Huff said. “This will not [put] a burden on the current taxpayers. This is the new businesses that are being built that are spinning off this revenue and allowing us to do that.”

OHH hired Guide Architecture of Dallas because they specialize in designing hospital facilities and “are very skilled in rural healthcare,” Mr. Huff said. The hospital board selected Trinity Hughes Construction of Wichita Falls as the project manager, he said. Representatives of both companies attended the daylong meetings to get feedback about what works and what doesn’t at the current facility, he said.

“From the community standpoint and the community leaders, we need your input,” he told a group of business owners and elected officials who attended one session. “You’re the end user of our hospital … and we need to hear from you.”

Most attendees acknowledged that the old hospital is outdated but wanted advice from the architect and builder about how to redesign it for a new era.

“The medical world has changed enormously from the type of medical care that these previous structures provided to what’s going to happen in the future so we have a bright future. We want to be a facility that can manage the care for those who need care right here and transport for those who need to go on to a higher tier of care,” OHH Board President Dale Lovett said.

OHH Board Member Bob Craig said it is “hard for us to look into the future.”

“We used to go to the hospital to go to bed - we took our pajamas with us. Well, now we’ve only got a small percentage of people that come to the hospital with the idea of staying,” OHH Board member Bob Craig said. “Most of the people who come for surgery go home, and that was just unheard of a few years ago. We think we’ve got a good hospital today but we doubt very seriously if it will fit us tomorrow.”

Dave Lilly of Trinity Hughes Construction said his company’s assessment determined that the new tax funds are “best spent in an upgraded or newer facility.”

“There is nothing that is fundamentally wrong with your current facility … the level of healthcare that your community receives is nothing short of sterling but it is an old building, and rather than going in and repairing and upgrading an old building, that same amount of investment can be applied to a new building that will last …. many, many decades,” Mr. Lilly said.

Mayor Rue Rogers said he was pleased that the new facility would not require additional public debt, as the city recently issued $13.5 million in revenue bonds to finance a new water treatment plant to replace the existing century- old facility and had experienced “pushback” from citizens about higher water rates.

“We’re really trying to think forward, ahead too,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of things in the works … to make sure the city is sustainable for another 100 years and …. the hospital is a big draw to Olney. We do have phenomenal medical care and we are the shining star in this area and anything we can do to build on that is a plus for Olney and for the city.”

Olney Hamilton Hospital administrators and architects met with staff and community