Whitman Hospital: Ribbon cutting marks completion of expansion

Hospital district board chair Steve Moore (left) of Dusty and Jon Davis, hospital administrator, cut the ribbon to commemorate the end of the remodel project.

With the snip of a red ribbon, the gleaming new halls of Whitman Hospital and Medical Center were officially opened to the world Aug. 28.

“The biggest thanks I think goes to the community we serve for their support,” said Jon Davis, hospital administrator, to a 50-strong crowd of hospital staffers, patients, reporters, and citizens in the new lobby.

Davis and Steve Moore, chairman of the hospital district board, spoke briefly after cutting the ribbon.

The latest finished addition to the hospital includes business offices, a new lobby, renovations to the gift shop, the pharmacy and the respiratory therapy unit. Remodeling started in 2007.

The first addition added a second floor with 19 private rooms, 4 private or semi-private rooms, a new laboratory, a new radiology department, and expanded the emergency room.

The construction price tag was roughly $18 million, with an extra $1 million for hospital equipment. Hospital district voters approved a $13.6 million bond issue in the 2006 primary election.

Davis joked in his speech that the hospital just can’t get enough of construction, pointing out their summer expansion of the current Whitman Medical Group clinic.

“We kind of went through withdrawals, and we had to build something again,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Estimated at a cost of $1.1 million, the expansion will add 11 exam rooms, four physician offices, and will enlarge the existing administrative and waiting rooms in the clinic. The renovations will extend the clinic into the current gap between the clinic and the hospital.

Garco Construction of Spokane, general contractor for the hospital project, was also the successful bidder for the clinic expansion in May with a base bid of $642,049.

After the ribbon cutting, members of the crowd mingled in the new lobby and helped themselves to the refreshments offered downstairs.

Teri Heilsberg, a member of the hospital foundation board, said she was happy to finally see the completion of the project.

“I think it’s terrific,” she said.

Moore also added the facility was an investment into the future.

“This facility is going to serve us for at least 50 years,” he said.

Leona Herman, who coordinates Hospital Auxiliary volunteers for the gift shop at the hospital, said she is very happy with the new renovated gift store.

“We’ve got our first gift shop with a door on it,” she said with a smile.