Stephens Co. Hospital Authority Gets Project Update

Stephens County Hospital continues to prepare to open up new rooms at its Wilkinson Center.

On Monday, Hospital Administrator Lynne Anderson updated the Stephens County Hospital Authority on the project at its monthly meeting.

Anderson now said she hopes that they can start moving people in to the new rooms in the next couple of weeks if everything goes as planned.

“It is almost completed and we are very excited about it,” said Anderson. “We will be finishing up on the inside and doing the clean-up this week, maybe a little bit next week and then we have to do the landscaping and re-paving of the parking lot. Once all that is done, we will be ready for move in. It is very beautiful and we are excited about it.”

She did caution that it may take a little longer than a couple of weeks to get everything finished.

Construction on the six new units at the Wilkinson Center began back in January.

Each of the six new units will house two people comfortably and will include a small kitchen, a living room area, a study that could also function as a separate bedroom, a walk-in closet, and a patio.

The units will be about 1000 square feet each and will connect to the main Wilkinson Center through a heated hallway.

Anderson said that the new rooms are already reserved once they are opened up.

Meanwhile, Anderson also told the Hospital Authority that the Hospital would be making some security improvements around the facility.

She said that is something they have been reviewing over the past few weeks.

“I think that is something that all hospitals are doing, just making sure security is obvious to those who come on the campus,” said Anderson. “We have invited the police and the sheriff to make all the rounds they want to through our parking lot. We are working with our staff to make sure they know that we have security covered for them. We will be doing some minor renovations in the emergency room with glass partitions and locking down doors.”

According to Anderson, it is something all facilities have to think about and do these days.