Upgrades begin at EARH

Construction projects have officially began at East Adams Rural Hospital, and residents and patients can expect projects to be ongoing in the upcoming months.

The projects began with the installation of a main service electrical line, installed by Avista Utilities, for the hospital to begin working on the essential electrical projects that were cited by the Department of Health last year.

The hospital’s request to close the portion of Washington Street between Ninth Avenue and the alleyway towards Tenth Avenue was approved by the Ritzville City Council last week.

Hospital CEO/CFO Gary Bostrom said the street closure serves as a lay down area for materials needed for the construction projects, as well as a central location for equipment.

Apollo Solutions Group construction Manager Mike Fuentes said the first priorities of the projects is to install the new emergency generator, electrical board and switches.

Fuentes explained the project is being broken down into three phases, and the first phase deals specifically with fire, life safety and electrical projects to bring the hospital up to code.

During this 12-16 week process of the first phase, Fuentes and Bostrom explained portions of the hospital will be closed due to construction.

These closures will be announced on the hospital’s website, as well as regularly updated in the newspaper and on The Journal’s Facebook page.

With the approval of the bond measure, Bostrom said this allows the hospital to move forward with all three phases and continue construction plans for the new layout of the hospital. All of the renovations and upgrades using bond money are the final phase of the project.

Fuentes explained the hospital is now on the path to fixing all cited issues, and they are now turning their focus to completing the project in a safe, methodical way while getting the critical issues addressed.

The end goal is to keep hospital operations continuous, even while construction is ongoing. Fuentes explained during construction, infection control barriers are used to continue providing a healthy environment for those using the hospital.

Bostrom explained the physical therapy department has been moved into the other half of the dental building near the hospital. The previous building that housed the physical therapy department will be key in the construction process, as portable medical equipment will be used within the building to assist with patient needs.