Plans to expand and modernize St. Luke’s McCall’s medical center have entered the next stage now that the project’s pre-application has been filed with the city of McCall.

Plans include additional emergency department treatment rooms, private and multifunctional patient rooms, modern labor and delivery rooms and additional operating rooms.

“Our plan is guided by our foremost priority to meet the needs of our patients by providing more convenient and higher quality care at a lower cost,” St. Luke’s McCall Administrator Sean McCallister said.

Several years ago, hospital leadership identified a need for more space to serve the growing healthcare needs of the community and to modernize the aging facility and dated infrastructure.

Nearly 50 percent of the hospital is more than 60 years old and the other half is more than 20 years old, creating challenges to meet current regulatory, technology and connectivity standards.

The hospital is currently 30,000 square feet, plus approximately 17,000 square feet in support service buildings. The newly expanded and renovated hospital is projected to be nearly 80,000 square feet and will be a two-story structure.

The additional space will allow the hospital to increase inpatient rooms from 12 (three of which are double occupancy) to 17 private rooms with three dedicated to labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum care. Soft space will allow for expansion to 20 beds in the future as needed.

Increased demand for surgical services has meant the need to expand to four operating rooms from the current two. The new operating rooms will be multifunctional to accommodate growing surgical cases, obstetric Cesarean section needs and other minor procedures.

Emergency department visits also continue to increase every year. Currently there are four treatment rooms, one of which has two beds. The plan is to increase to eight total rooms, with adequate overflow capability to accommodate peak summer volumes. Additionally, outpatient and diagnostic departments like infusion/chemotherapy, medical imaging, lab and respiratory therapy will expand to accommodate patient visits and contemporary standards.

As the plan is developed it will incorporate natural noise buffers, attractive landscaping and improved neighborhood pedestrian walkability and safety.

The project’s steering committee of hospital leadership, physicians, staff members, community representatives from the hospital’s volunteer boards and McCall Memorial Hospital District board members is working with a team headed by Hummel Architects as a consultant to provide professional design and engineering services. Hummel has worked with St. Luke’s on many projects over the years in the Treasure Valley and Twin Falls, as well as other critical access hospitals in rural communities throughout the northwest.

The pre-application submittal includes:

• Renderings for the proposed footprint of the new hospital.
• The proposed construction schedule. The project is anticipated to take multiple years, starting with site preparation in 2018, and is dependent on municipal approval and capital funding availability.
• A request for lot consolidation. The St. Luke’s McCall campus consists of multiple independent lots with multiple owners and the proposed new hospital wing would extend across existing property lines. The city of McCall has recommended that property ownership be consolidated.
• A request to rezoning recently acquired properties by St. Luke’s from residential to civic.
• Plans for site preparation to clear, grade and remove/improve underground infrastructure.
• The concept for the two-story wing north of the current hospital, for which Hewitt Street would need to be rerouted. The street will not be closed; access from Gamble to State Street will remain open ensuring connectivity within the neighborhood and downtown McCall.
• Plans for the demolition of the 1956 hospital structure.
• Plans for the remodel of the existing hospital structure built in the 1990s.

St. Luke’s Health System has approved the use of as much as $4 million to complete detailed planning, architectural design work and site preparation. That amount is part of the total $35 million estimated cost of the project to build, remodel, equip and furnish the new facility.

St. Luke’s McCall Foundation set a goal to raise $5 million of the total through community support and generosity. The balance of the funding will be provided through St. Luke’s capital investment funds, pending approval.

“Replacing and expanding the hospital is a significant investment in community health,” McCallister said. “We want to partner with the community to build a medical center for the future to ensure we continue to provide the best care, in a healing environment, when and where we, our families, friends and neighbors need it most.”