(Spirit Lake)—Construction of a new surgery center and birth center at Lakes Regional Healthcare is about to enter a new phase. It involves landscaping and a joint project with the city to relocate Zenith Avenue. Hospital spokesperson Jennifer Gustafson tells KUOO news it will result in some temporary changes in traffic and parking…(click here for comment.) “If they want to come to the hospital via Zenith Avenue actually it’s better for them to go to 23rd Street by the clinic, Spirit Lake Medical Center or Lakes Family Practice, or go into the hospital from Highway 71 and kind of weave their way through the parking lot. They can still get to the south entrance parking spaces right by Northwest Iowa Bone and Joint and they can get to the rehab area there at the south end but they kind of have to weave through the parking spaces. There’s a little walking path from the parking lot to our parking lot that is on the south side of the hospital, so people can use that as well.”
In addition, Gustafson says Immanuel Lutheran Church has granted permission for the hospital to use some of its parking for those looking to access the facility from the south.
Meanwhile, Gustafson says the project continues to be on schedule…(click here for comment.) “As people drive by they can notice that bricks are going up and so that’s exciting to see. The interior framing is done and in fact we’re going to be putting a video on our facebook page soon showing the interior of our birth center. So that will be kind of fun for people to see. But then also on the outside they’ll see especially on our new east entrance it’s like a two story entrance, lots of glass and we’re going to start putting the glass up soon.”
The project also includes a relocation of the Critical Care Unit to the hospital’s south wing on the second floor, relocating the surgery and obstetric services areas and adding patient registration to the hospital’s northeast corner.
