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Bloomfield Medical-Pharmacy Project Approved By City
By Linda Wuebben
P&D Correspondent
BLOOMFIELD, Neb. — If they had their way, members of the Bloomfield City Council would be ready to move into the newly proposed combined medical-pharmacy facility.
But it is not built yet. A community information meeting held last week in Bloomfield told the Knox County residents the building proposal is a go.
“(The council) supports this project 100 percent,” said Mayor Jim Cripe. “We want to move in tomorrow.”
The City Council has been weighing the pros and cons of the medical facility for two years.
Jason Hefner, president of the Bloomfield Community Foundation (BCF), is hoping to move into the new medical-pharmacy building sometime next year. He directed the meeting to present the facts about the proposed facility and garner support.
“We are here tonight to talk about the medical future of our community and solidify it,” said Hefner. As the head of the foundation and a businessperson in the Bloomfield community, he is very interested in maintaining the quality of health care in the community and the surrounding area.
“The life is running out of our current medical facility,” said Sunny Nagengast, part-time physician assistant at the 70-year-old clinic. She practices in the antiquated building with Kevin Lauck, also a PA, and Dr. Ron Morse of Creighton, the licensed physician who enables the facility to fulfill licensing requirements in the state of Nebraska.
The medical staff is facing structural issues.
o A leaky roof brings in the bucket brigade and places plastic over the charts.
o The outdated electrical system is inefficient and hampers the testing in the lab as well as heating lunch in the microwave.
o The handicap accessibility of the old facility is limited, as is patient privacy and confidentiality. If an ambulance call is needed to pick up a patient, the crew and gurney currently must go through the lobby.
Daily patient visits at the medical facility number at 25 between the two or three medical staff members on duty. That computes to 550 visits a month and 7,200 a year.
“It’s time to move patient care in Bloomfield to 2009 and beyond,” Nagengast said. The clinic has invested in a new computer in the last year because so much of the day-to-day business for processing insurance claims and Medicare is done online.
The 80-foot x 75-foot building will sit in between the community center, built in 1995, and the library, built in 1997. It will be built with brick and mortar and be similar in appearance to the two present buildings. A liquor store business sitting north of the library will be relocated.
“This new facility will be a compliment to the other buildings,” said Ryan Bloomquist of the BCF. “This block will look very nice when coming into the community.”
Bloomquist described the building’s layout to the interested Bloomfield residents. There will be three offices, five examination rooms, X-ray room, break room, storage, lab, nursing station, admittance office and a canopy on the south end for ambulance arrivals and a handicap-access entrance. On the north end of the facility will be a new pharmacy that can be accessed through a door inside the new clinic area and from the outside.
“The convenience of having the pharmacy right next door will be great for our patients,” said pharmacist John Nagengast. “Consultations will be easier.” The pharmacy like the current clinic serves a wide area — as much as a 60-mile radius. The pharmacy will employ seven workers and the clinic will employ 10.
Bloomfield’s council has decided to own the facility and lease it to the medical professionals and the pharmacist.
“The building will always be here but doctors change, people change — the city is constant,” said Cripe. The proposal also ensures the power stays in the community and keeps the health services locally controlled.
Local residents will be able to get quality health care in the community and choose what hospital they want when the need arises. The community-based health system will not be tied into another health care business — it will stay independent.
An early estimate for the health care complex will probably come in at $600,000. By doing as much of the project locally as possible, the supporters hope to keep the expenses even less than that.
But finding the money to fund the project is one last hurdle for the BCF. Donations will be accepted and loans are being looked into. The most logical answer is to use money collected from the one percent sales tax initiated several years ago to make the yearly payments on the loan acquired for construction costs.
“Let’s let the people who come to town, help us pay for the new medical building,” said Bloomquist. “If you want the service, it’s going to cost something.”
The City of Bloomfield received $114,000 of sales tax monies last year and up to $40,000 of that revenue can be used for economic development. The success of the call center demonstrates the tremendous asset that business has been to the community. There will also be some income from the leases to the professional clients.
“We see small communities struggle everyday and this is such a positive step for Bloomfield to take,” said Creighton Area Health Services CEO Jeff Lingerfelt. “This community is educated about health care, concerned about wellness and knows what they want.”
“We have a nursing home with a pre-school business operating there also, a good school system,” Nagengast said. “It only makes sense to keep our health care system strong, also.”
But it is not built yet. A community information meeting held last week in Bloomfield told the Knox County residents the building proposal is a go.
“(The council) supports this project 100 percent,” said Mayor Jim Cripe. “We want to move in tomorrow.”
The City Council has been weighing the pros and cons of the medical facility for two years.
Jason Hefner, president of the Bloomfield Community Foundation (BCF), is hoping to move into the new medical-pharmacy building sometime next year. He directed the meeting to present the facts about the proposed facility and garner support.
“We are here tonight to talk about the medical future of our community and solidify it,” said Hefner. As the head of the foundation and a businessperson in the Bloomfield community, he is very interested in maintaining the quality of health care in the community and the surrounding area.
“The life is running out of our current medical facility,” said Sunny Nagengast, part-time physician assistant at the 70-year-old clinic. She practices in the antiquated building with Kevin Lauck, also a PA, and Dr. Ron Morse of Creighton, the licensed physician who enables the facility to fulfill licensing requirements in the state of Nebraska.
The medical staff is facing structural issues.
o A leaky roof brings in the bucket brigade and places plastic over the charts.
o The outdated electrical system is inefficient and hampers the testing in the lab as well as heating lunch in the microwave.
o The handicap accessibility of the old facility is limited, as is patient privacy and confidentiality. If an ambulance call is needed to pick up a patient, the crew and gurney currently must go through the lobby.
Daily patient visits at the medical facility number at 25 between the two or three medical staff members on duty. That computes to 550 visits a month and 7,200 a year.
“It’s time to move patient care in Bloomfield to 2009 and beyond,” Nagengast said. The clinic has invested in a new computer in the last year because so much of the day-to-day business for processing insurance claims and Medicare is done online.
The 80-foot x 75-foot building will sit in between the community center, built in 1995, and the library, built in 1997. It will be built with brick and mortar and be similar in appearance to the two present buildings. A liquor store business sitting north of the library will be relocated.
“This new facility will be a compliment to the other buildings,” said Ryan Bloomquist of the BCF. “This block will look very nice when coming into the community.”
Bloomquist described the building’s layout to the interested Bloomfield residents. There will be three offices, five examination rooms, X-ray room, break room, storage, lab, nursing station, admittance office and a canopy on the south end for ambulance arrivals and a handicap-access entrance. On the north end of the facility will be a new pharmacy that can be accessed through a door inside the new clinic area and from the outside.
“The convenience of having the pharmacy right next door will be great for our patients,” said pharmacist John Nagengast. “Consultations will be easier.” The pharmacy like the current clinic serves a wide area — as much as a 60-mile radius. The pharmacy will employ seven workers and the clinic will employ 10.
Bloomfield’s council has decided to own the facility and lease it to the medical professionals and the pharmacist.
“The building will always be here but doctors change, people change — the city is constant,” said Cripe. The proposal also ensures the power stays in the community and keeps the health services locally controlled.
Local residents will be able to get quality health care in the community and choose what hospital they want when the need arises. The community-based health system will not be tied into another health care business — it will stay independent.
An early estimate for the health care complex will probably come in at $600,000. By doing as much of the project locally as possible, the supporters hope to keep the expenses even less than that.
But finding the money to fund the project is one last hurdle for the BCF. Donations will be accepted and loans are being looked into. The most logical answer is to use money collected from the one percent sales tax initiated several years ago to make the yearly payments on the loan acquired for construction costs.
“Let’s let the people who come to town, help us pay for the new medical building,” said Bloomquist. “If you want the service, it’s going to cost something.”
The City of Bloomfield received $114,000 of sales tax monies last year and up to $40,000 of that revenue can be used for economic development. The success of the call center demonstrates the tremendous asset that business has been to the community. There will also be some income from the leases to the professional clients.
“We see small communities struggle everyday and this is such a positive step for Bloomfield to take,” said Creighton Area Health Services CEO Jeff Lingerfelt. “This community is educated about health care, concerned about wellness and knows what they want.”
“We have a nursing home with a pre-school business operating there also, a good school system,” Nagengast said. “It only makes sense to keep our health care system strong, also.”
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