Hospital announces entrance changes
By Kent Thompson
Change will be coming at Humboldt County Memorial Hospital (HCMH) and soon.
Following a planned public ground breaking on Tuesday, April 3 at 1 p.m., the hospital will begin construction activities on a planned $18 million hospital expansion and renovation.
The work will require the closing of the main entrance to the hospital, as well as all access from Highway 3 (10th Avenue North), beginning on Wednesday, April 4.
The new main entrance to the hospital beginning next Wednesday (April 4) will be the door located at the north end of the hallway between the HCMH cafeteria and the family hospice room.
There will be a welcome desk at the end of the short hallway. The reception person will be able to answer questions and there will be a person available to personally escort patients and visitors to the correct location in the hospital.
Door hours of the main entrance will be 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. After hours, people may use the emergency call button located on the door, or use the emergency room entrance on the northeast side of the hospital.
The biggest logistical change for many patients will be the temporary relocation of the therapy department. This includes all therapy services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and massage therapy.
The therapy department will be occupying the former home of materials management. The Therapy entrance is located directly west of the new main entrance. People will access it from the 15th Street North entrance and travel to the west to the new parking area between the surgical center and Springvale Assisted Living.
The therapy door entrance will be notated by green signage. Therapy hours are Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If the door is locked for some reason, please use the main entrance.
For more details on the changes, read this week's Humboldt Independent newspaper. Subscribe to print or online editions by clicking on the link at the top of this page.
People with questions about the changes may contact the hospital main switchboard at (515) 332-4200.