Columbia Healthcare OKs funding for $10.8 million hospital in

Columbia Healthcare of Oklahoma has approved funding for construction of a $10.8 million hospital at Seminole.

Columbia's goal is "to design and meet the needs of a primary care hospital for the 21st century," said David L. Dunlap, president of Columbia Healthcare of Oklahoma. "As a result, we are doing things differently that will make the hospital efficient, improve patient flow and make things more convenient for the doctors and employees."

The 32-bed hospital, planned for the corner of State Highway 9 and David L. Boren, would include four intensive care beds, two isolation beds, two labor and delivery beds, 12 acute care beds and 12 skilled nursing beds. It will replace the current hospital, which was built in 1927. Designs for the Columbia Seminole Hospital are under development by architects Rees and Associates of Oklahoma City and Columbia's Design and Construction Department. The various plans were enhanced in a meeting last week with consultant Judy Pearson Ellison of the Quadrant Group and, via video link to California , consultant Jeff Hardy of XYDRA. "It was a very productive session," said Dunlap, who noted the video conference allowed each side to view the other's drawings. "The changes really improved the design of the hospital and also made the Columbia corporate office in Nashville more familiar with the project." Steve Schoaps, administrator of Seminole Hospital, said the meetings have helped move the construction project along. "We spent a lot of time discussing how the patients would be placed in the facility and how the employees would move around to provide the care to the patients." If the project goes ahead as planned, final approval for the designs should come in the next 60 to 90 days. Construction would begin in the next five months.

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