Alton Memorial Hospital Celebrates Ribbon Cutting for New Patient Wing
PHOTO BY DAVE WHALEY
Kathleen Duncan and AMH President Dave Braasch perform the official ribbon cutting for the Duncan Wing on March 10. With them are Dr. James Ricci, far left; AMH board of directors chairman Ken Balsters, second from left; and Alton Mayor Tom Hoechst, far right.
(Alton, IL - March 11, 2010) � The weather was perfect March 10, but almost 1,000 people at Alton Memorial Hospital that day preferred to be indoors. That�s because they wanted to get a long look at the Duncan Wing, the 89,000-square-foot bed tower that celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The beauty of the building�s exterior has been apparent to anyone who has visited the AMH campus during the past year. On March 10, however, the public was welcomed inside for the first time as the Duncan Wing prepared for its first patients just a few days later.
�The Duncan Wing is absolutely stunning,� said Paul Lauschke, chairman of the Alton Memorial Health Services Foundation. �Anybody you talk to on the street will say that. When you come up the driveway it is just the most beautiful building. And now everyone sees how beautiful it is inside.�
PHOTO BY TIM MUDROVIC
A standing room only crowd gathered in the Alton Memorial Hospital cafeteria March 10 to hear remarks from several dignitaries prior to the ribbon cutting for the Duncan Wing.
But it�s more than just looks. The Duncan Wing has 76 private inpatient rooms equipped with the latest patient care technology. The hospital�s Surgical Care Unit (12 beds), Intermediate Care Unit (32 beds) and Medical Care Unit (32 beds) will be moved into the new wing by the end of March. Six observation rooms will also be available on the ground floor. Each room is geometrically set up to enhance patient safety, including fewer steps to the bathroom and patient visibility to nurses in the hallway.
Patient lifts are available in every inpatient room and Patient Touch Technology, the very latest in patient education, will be available to patients at every bedside. The educational tool is unique to every patient and can be used by simply touching a computer screen to receive specific information on a medical condition as well as information about area weather, restaurants and hotels.
�This is a very important day for BJC and for Alton Memorial Hospital,� said Steve Lipstein, CEO and president of BJC. �The Duncan Wing includes just about everything we know about health care at BJC. I applaud everyone at Alton Memorial who worked so hard to make this day possible.�
AMH President Dave Braasch, who has worked at the hospital for 30 years and has been president since 2007, said the Duncan Wing is the continuation of a legacy that began when Eunice Smith and her sister, Ellen Hatch, provided the land for the original hospital in the 1930s.
�The Duncan family continues the promise of the Smith family for providing the best health care in the area,� Braasch said. �Health care is certainly different now than it was 70 years ago. But it boils down to people taking care of people. That�s the history of Alton Memorial Hospital and that�s the future of Alton Memorial Hospital. I thank everyone for being here to celebrate both our past and our future.�
Alton Mayor Tom Hoechst thanked AMH and BJC for providing so many construction jobs during the past two years and also pointed out that AMH is among the city�s largest employers.
�When people consider moving to a community they look at the crime rate, the schools and health care,� Hoechst said. �The Duncan Wing ensures that Alton has a facility that should attract the best physicians.�
When AMH held its groundbreaking ceremony on Jan. 25, 2008, many in the community and even some employees had a hard time picturing exactly how the new wing was going to fit on the campus. Now they can hardly remember how things looked before the Duncan Wing.
PHOTO BY DAVE WHALEY
Gigi Darr of the Ralph Butler Trio performs "What a Wonderful World" on the piano in the Hutchinson Lobby of Alton Memorial Hospital's Duncan Wing during the March 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony. Listening behind her is Gigi's Aunt, Andy Simpson. The piano was dedicated in honor of Anna Beach, Andy's sister and Gigi's aunt, who passed away in 2008.
�It�s unbelievable that was only two years ago,� said Sandra Van Trease, BJC group president. �At our community hospitals it�s all about neighbors providing care for neighbors. And now the neighbors in Alton have a new front door for that care.�
The ceremony began at 2 p.m. with remarks in the AMH cafeteria before a standing room only crowd. It moved outside for a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Braasch helping Kathleen Duncan cut the ribbon. Duncan, 94, and her family sold some artwork in auction more than two years ago which helped the hospital�s �Building the Best Care Close to Home� capital campaign exceed its $3 million goal. In November 2008, it was announced that the new addition would be named the Duncan Wing.
Sandy Lauschke and George Milnor were the co-chairs of the capital campaign committee. They announced at the ribbon-cutting ceremony that the campaign total has since inched closer to $3.9 million.
The community was invited to the ribbon cutting. Each visitor received a cube featuring various photos representative of Alton Memorial Hospital�s past, present and future. Following the ribbon cutting, guests were welcomed inside for self-guided tours of the Duncan Wing and plenty of good food from the AMH cafeteria. A brief ceremony dedicated the piano in the Hutchinson Lobby in memory of longtime White Cross Auxiliary board member and volunteer Anna Beach, who passed away in 2008. Beach was the mother of AMH volunteer coordinator Irene McLaughlin. Beach�s niece, Gigi Darr, is pianist for the Ralph Butler Trio, which performed during the ceremony. The first selection was Anna Beach�s favorite song, Louis Armstrong�s �What a Wonderful World.�
The Duncan Wing, featuring free valet service, will also be the central starting point for a number of services. Patient registration as well as an outpatient Lab/EKG area are located just off the spacious Hutchinson Lobby. This process improvement allows a patient coming in for their procedures to have them completed quickly and very close to the main entrance. The building also houses an inpatient physical therapy area, laboratory, inpatient pharmacy and a large radiology reception area. The inpatient pharmacy and lab moved into the Duncan Wing before the ribbon cutting.
As patients move out of the existing space, it opens up opportunities to provide the community expanded and different levels of care. The hospital is also reviewing the possibility of transforming a portion of the vacated space to a health education institute to increase and improve professional and community health education services.
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