'Well done'

QUINCY — Port of Quincy Commissioner Curt Morris had a couple of words for Quincy Valley Medical Center commissioner Randy Zolman during the open house at the new Quincy hospital Wednesday. 

“Well done,” Morris said. 

Hospital district patrons approved a $55 million bond in 2022 for the project, and the open house and ribbon cutting was the first time most of them had the chance to see it in person. The hospital opens for patient care May 21.  

In a speech before the ribbon cutting, Zolman said hospital district patrons deserve a lot of the credit.  

“I’d like to thank you, the voters because without you, this dream would never have happened,” Zolman said. “It’s been a wonderful ride getting to this point; it’s been roughly eight years in the making.” 

Zolman said one of the most important people working on the project was QVMC Chief Executive Officer Glenda Bishop, who not only spearheaded the hospital construction but also led the effort to improve the hospital’s finances. Zolman said Bishop succeeded at both. 

Bishop said she considered the hospital one of the foundation stones of the community, like the support pillars that are part of the new hospital’s foundation, sometimes known by the trade name Geopiers. She expressed gratitude to the people and organizations in town that worked on and supported the project. 

“The support of our community will continue to be the Geopiers of the hospital district and of this community as healthcare and the delivery of those services changes, and it most certainly will. It has changed over the decades, and will continue to change, but the Geopiers of this community, the solid foundation, will stand,” Bishop said. 

Members of the construction crew and management team, along with project architects, attended the open house, and Bishop said that through their work, they will have a major impact on Quincy. Project manager Joe Kunkel said Quincy had an impact on the people who worked on the project. 

“This has become a very personal project for, I think, everyone on this team. We get to do this work for a living, but there are projects that come along that you know make a big difference, and this is one of those,” Kunkel said. “We take pride in being part of the Quincy story.” 

Kunkel said the building provides the shell, but it’s the people that work in it that make it an important part of the community. 

“You can feel the life that’s getting pumped into this building by the staff who are coming over here and starting to make their departments and their working spaces theirs. It’s exciting and very rewarding,” Kunkel said. 

The new QVMC has decorative rock circling the building, the work, Bishop said, of one man who set each rock by hand.  

“That one man, one rock at a time, made a difference,” Bishop said. 

Some of the initial work that went into feasibility studies and planning was conducted with the help of the port. One of the decorative rocks was engraved and presented to the port commissioners as an acknowledgment of their help. It came with a confession from Bishop. 

“A few of those rocks somehow made their way into my office one night,” Bishop said.  

She gave credit to the QVMC staff and administrators and the work they have done, even as construction went on within a few feet of the existing facility. 

“You have poured yourselves into this project, and at the same time you have you have cared for your patients passionately,” she said. “You have dared greatly, and today you have achieved greatly. I am so proud of you.” 

    Glenda Bishop, Quincy hospital CEO, leads a round of applause for the hospital staff and their patience and perseverance during construction of the new hospital.
  

    Quincy Valley Medical Center CEO Glenda Bishop, right, presents an award to Port of Quincy commissioners, from left, Patric Connelly, Curt Morris and Brian Kuest for their support in helping build a new hospital.
  

    Quincy Valley Medical Center Commissioner Sherri Kooy, center, shows district patrons the physical therapy pool during an open house for the new hospital.
  

    Quincy hospital commission chair Randy Zolman thanks hospital district patrons for their support of a new facility.