SIDNEY — The Rotary Club of Sidney hosted Wilson Health President and CEO Mark Dooley at its meeting, March 21.
“There are so many good things going on at the hospital I hardly know where to begin,” Dooley said, “but the most immediate of those good things is the opening of the Thomas Boecker Professional Building.”
Planning for the building began in 2013, before Dooley was hired. The building was designed to accommodate on campus the 36 physicians who are a part of the Wilson Health medical system.
The 48,000-square-foot addition will house the offices of 21 of those physicians, who will be moving into the building in the coming weeks.
“The driving force behind this project was to provide better service for our patients,” Dooley said. “We also believe that it will be of benefit as we recruit new physicians to the community.”
Dooley noted that construction began in December 2014 and credited Ferguson Construction Company with keeping the project on schedule, despite the various hurdles that had been encountered. The most serious difficulty was flooding of the site that occurred when an 84-inch storm water drainage pipe was severed, requiring a $100,000 repair. “It proved to be a blessing,” Dooley stated,” as the repair has prevented any further water intrusion in the building since.”
Dooley noted that the physicians will be moved into the building in four phases, one group about every two weeks. An open house for employees is scheduled for March 31 and that a patient preview will follow on April 7. A community-wide open house is scheduled for May 19.
Dooley also revealed that Wilson Health will be instituting a call center to be known as the Wilson Health Line. It will include a physician referral service.
When asked about parking, he noted that before planning for the professional building project was undertaken in 2013, a parking study indicated that there would be adequate room for parking. “Since that time, everything has become a lot busier,” Dooley said.
Dooley was also asked about the name change. “We are so much more than a hospital,” Dooley explained. “We have athletic trainers in 13 schools; occupational health provides services to more than 400 businesses; and, we have a number of other services that fall outside the realm of a community hospital. We believe that Wilson Health better defines what it is that we do.”
