WRH to begin capital improvements soon

When Marengo County voters passed the 4-mil property tax to benefit Whitfield Regional Hospital in December, CEO/Administrator Doug Brewer promised the money would be used to bring the 20-year-old facility up to date as soon as possible.

Those promises should start being fulfilled within the next 45 days when the front parking lot will be completely torn up and rebuilt.

Big changes are planned in the hospital itself, beginning at the front entrance and extending back through the main public areas, lab and imaging departments and ending at the totally redesigned Emergency Department, Brewer said.

The updated design for all the various entrances “reflects the new direction for the hospital,” he said. “I like to say the outsides and the insides are going to start looking like the care we’ve been providing now for the last year and a half or so.”

The overall design will have an industrial, contemporary feel, he continued. The main lobby will sport new furnishings, lighting and flooring. New imaging equipment is being purchased so that WRH will provide the most state-of-the-art technology to its patients. Planned are a new CT machine, fluoroscopy, mobile X-ray, 3-D mammography and a PACS system.

Both operating rooms and the procedure room will be getting complete makeovers.

The hospital had five functioning ICU beds when Brewer became administrator. Another two had been used for storage. Those were brought back into use even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Thanks to the generosity of Demopolis, the hospital will receive $150,000 of the city’s CARES Act funding to help pay for another ICU bed.

The redesign of the Emergency Department will be the most extensive and the most challenging, Brewer said. The hospital is developing a way to continue receiving patients while major construction is going on at the same time.

Brewer said in addition to all the visible improvements, the hospital also is upgrading what cannot be seen. WRH is working with SPIRE gas company to determine the most efficient boiler system to take the place of the units that have been in place for decades. The entire roof is being replaced to stop the leaks that have damaged the hospital’s interior.

Some of the planned upgrades require approval by the hospital’s Board of Trustees once bids for the work are received. The Emergency Department project must have state approval before WRH can proceed.

Employees haven’t been forgotten, Brewer said. The hospital has been working on improved benefits for its staff. It is also using some of the CARES Act money to give what he calls a one-time “loyalty payment” to hospital workers. Many of them haven’t had a meaningful raise in 17 years, he said.