Present and future part of new Quincy Valley Medical Center

QUINCY — Quincy Valley Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Glenda Bishop said watching as the new QVMC is built emphasized the fact this is a project for the future as well as today. 

“(Recently) as I pulled into the parking lot I looked up at the new hospital and the full impact of what this means for our community hit me in a powerful way,” Bishop wrote in answer to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. “Our generation, our workforce, our voters, our contractors are accomplishing something that will meet healthcare needs into the next several decades.” 

Construction began on the new hospital in September 2023 - well, actually the first couple months were taken up with demolition and site preparation. As of mid-September, some of the exterior siding is up, most of the windows are in and a lot of the first floor either has drywall installed or is getting prepped for it. 

Construction Manager Joe Kunkel said the section of the first floor that will be Sageview Clinic has drywall and the first layers of paint. What will be the emergency room and the physical therapy department, also on the first floor, have drywall installed too.  

Drywall is going in on the second floor; the second floor will house the patient rooms and administrative offices, among other things. 

Some equipment had to be installed before construction could continue, since the rest of the room had to be built around it. The physical therapy pool was one of those elements; it had to be poured as part of the foundation installation. The range hood in the kitchen was another, and it was installed in late August. 

Bishop said she walked through the building in mid-September, to take a look at the progress and to talk to, and thank, the construction workers on the project. One of the workers told her it was going to be a great building when it was done. 

“I had a fresh moment of gratitude,” Bishop said. “It is really happening.” 

Crews are taking photographs and video of each section as they go, Kunkel said, to document locations of components like plumbing and electricity.   

“There’s a building automation system that comes with the new building, so if there’s a leak, if you want to do any kind of remodel, they can pull up photos of exactly where they want to go (and) know what’s in that wall before they break through it,” Kunkel said. 

The upgraded central computer system will monitor most components, the heating-cooling system being one example but extending beyond that. Kunkel cited the example of medications that must be stored at a specific temperature.  

“Historically you’d have a thermometer in each one of them, and then somebody checks them and writes (the results) down on a piece of paper. This is all automated, so it’s monitoring all structures at the same time. It has alarms if something goes out of compliance,” Kunkel said.    

The upgraded monitoring system will allow hospital employees to identify breakdowns more quickly – if a component goes down at the existing QVMC, it requires a search to find it. The new system will notify staff where a breakdown has occurred. It can be monitored remotely.   

If the project remains on schedule construction will be complete by spring 2025. That’s the first step to opening the doors. The second is to complete the permitting and licensing process that involves various government agencies. Kunkel estimated it would take about two to three months to complete that process. 

In the meantime hospital officials are working on a plan for Moving Day.  

Once the new QVMC has opened its doors, the existing hospital will be demolished and paved for the new parking lot.  

“There is an ever-increasing excitement among our staff as we meet to talk about new workflows and training on new equipment,” Bishop wrote. “The building is going to exceed expectations and we can’t wait to welcome our community to see for themselves what their vision has made possible. I am so grateful to be part of this project.”