Meeker Memorial Hospital Expansion
Meeker Memorial Hospital & Clinics will be combining all of its services into one facility with an addition to the hospital on South Sibley Avenue in Litchfield. Blueprints will be finalized in the coming months and ground breaking is expected to take place in June of this year.
MMH CEO Mary Ellen Wells says it will take at least two years to complete the 3-story ambulatory care addition to the building – mostly to the south of the current building – into Lockerbie Street, which is being vacated. She says the old part of the hospital will be demolished – with that area becoming green space and parking – with the entrance of the hospital facing east towards Sibley Avenue.
Wells says the hospital board and the Meeker County Board have both approved of the $50-million project. She says the hospital is still county-owned, and it’s important for Meeker County taxpayers to know that county funds are not being used for the project, but rather, the money will come from savings and from loans assumed by the hospital.
Wells says the addition will include a huge lobby where people may check in, and they are using the same architects from the 2009 hospital addition project. She says Meeker Memorial is still an independent hospital, but has an agreement with CentraCare, which is based in St. Cloud.
Dr. Deb Peterson says CentraCare owns the two clinics in Litchfield, so it will be up to them what they are going to do with them once the clinics move into the Meeker Memorial Hospital addition. She says it will be great for the doctors to have the clinics and hospital all in one facility.
Dr. Peterson says the new building will probably have kiosks where people may check in as the young people like that, but they will still have receptionists for those who prefer human contact. She says this has been a very active flu season so she encourages people to get a flu shot if they haven’t done so. Dr. Deb says it doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get the flu, but if you do get it, it will be milder, with less complications. She says you should stay home if you’re not feeling well.
