Hospital to open new lobby Jan. 24; renovation continues throughout WRH

The wait is over. The main lobby of Whitfield Regional Hospital will open to the public on Monday, Jan. 24.

CEO/Administrator Doug Brewer told the hospital Thursday the newly renovated lobby is “pretty amazing and pretty much done” as he invited members to the ribbon-cutting ceremony the Friday before the opening.

In anticipation of the event, the hospital is being power washed. The exterior is being repainted to complement the new color-scheme being used in the hospital’s interior.

All visitors and patients will use the main lobby once it is opened. The Out-Patient lobby, which has been used as a temporary portal for everyone, will be closed. That section of the hospital is being set up to serve as an interim Emergency Department entrance while the ED is being completely renovated, Brewer said. The Out-Patient portico will be reserved exclusively for ambulances, and the lobby is being set up as a triage area.

While that work is going on, every window in the hospital will be replaced, he continued. New windows should eliminate the leaking problems that have plagued the hospital for years.

Right behind that, he continued, the hospital will be pushing hard on replacing the power plant, now some 50 years old.

The hospital is targeting late March to reopen the Obstetrics unit. WRH’s hospitalist office is being moved to the first floor to make room on the third floor for the OB unit.

In a recent vote, Hospital Board agreed to purchase a DaVinci XI Robotic surgery device, Brewer said. The UAB surgeons now practicing in the hospital are well versed in robotic surgery and are looking forward to being able to take advantage of the new equipment by the end of March.

Brewer said the public will get a chance to see how it works in February when a mobile unit will be on site to demonstrate the DaVinci XI.

Brewer said the spike in COVID cases around the country is reflected in the number of cases locally. As of Thursday morning, WRH had 17 cases in house, with four in the ICU.

“We’ve has become a regional referral center,” said Brewer. He is getting calls from other hospitals – including two in Florida — looking for a place to move COVID patients.

Unfortunately, the highly contagious Omicron variant is hitting hospital staff, too, even those who have been vaccinated. Fortunately, he said, the newest strain is less severe. The hospital is conducting 60-70 tests daily and, for the most party, patients don’t need to be hospitalized.

Because of the nursing shortage, WRH is considering what other hospitals are doing. Nurses without symptoms will be allowed to return to take care of COVID patients.

The hospital continues to face a nursing shortage, a problem that all facilities had even before the pandemic began. Brewer said nursing salaries have been raised to be competitive with large institutions, and WRH is offering signing bonuses.