New hospital part of Olney Hamilton 5-year plan

OLNEY— For the first time more than 100 years, Olney residents may find themselves entering a brand new building to seek medical assistance.

While outlining Olney Hamilton Hospital’s five-year strategic plan, Olney Hamilton CEO Michael Huff announced plans for construction of a new facility to the hospital board during its Feb. 3 monthly meeting.

“There are several components to this,” Huff said. “... You need a facilities plan: what you have as space to build a facility, where hospitals are now, what design hospital you need. Back when our hospital was built, inpatient was driving all of the business. Now, we’re at 80 percent out-patient and 20 percent in-patient.”

Huff said, due to Olney Hamilton being designated as a critical access hospital, the new facility would need to have at least 20 beds, but that would not require the new facility to have 25 rooms. Once the hospital administration creates a facility plan, Huff said it would then need to address how it intends to fund construction of the facility.  

Other interests brought up in the strategic plan were staff needs, which Huff said the hospital is already in the process of recruiting a new staff physician.  Better meeting community health needs,  new programs and services, as well as adding mental health services, which he said Olney Police Chief Barry Roberts among other local officials have brought up the topic in previous conversations.

“We had the chief of police here, our medical staff and just about every else we talked to said there is an acute need for mental health services,” Huff said. “That can be anything from addiction counseling to other types of mental health services. We’re about 50 percent there. I visited with the CEO of Helen Therapy in Wichita Falls and he will send his delegation here this week. We’re looking at our old clinic in downtown and they seem to think it’s going to work.”

Huff said the former downtown location would need minor renovations to bring it Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, but believes there is a high probability Olney citizens will have mental health services.