Ivinson Memorial Hospital CEO Carol Dozier (second from left) and Wyoming First Lady Carol Mead (right) along with hospital administrators break ground for the addition to the hospital.
Ivinson Memorial Hospital broke ground on its new expansion project Wednesday with Wyoming First Lady Carol Mead as a guest speaker.
“I’m very pleased to be a part of the expansion of Ivinson Memorial Hospital,” Mead said. “The governor and I want to congratulate you on what is truly a remarkable project.”
Mead said that a hospital is one of the most important things a community can have and it is usually the first thing residents look for when they move to a new town.
“Residents always want to know the whereabouts of the hospital when they’re in new surroundings,” Mead said. “You never know when you’re going to need medical attention.”
Mead went on to discuss how the hospital has changed since it first opened in 1917 and was first located at 10th Street and Ivinson Avenue. The hospital was moved to its current location in 1968 after citizens of Laramie decided that having a hospital district would better serve the community, according to the Ivinson Memorial Hospital website.
Karl Vilums, IMH Chief Financial Officer, also spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony. Vilums said that the hospital has been saving the funds for its expansion project for many years and it will come at no extra cost to patients.
After the guest speakers introduced the project, they made their way outside to the west side of the hospital where the new building will be.
In addition to Mead and Vilums, IMH Chief Executive Officer Carol Dozier and members of the IMH Board of Trustees also attended the ceremony to officially begin the groundbreaking process.
To bring the ceremony to a close, they used gold shovels to take the first dig into the grounds where the addition to the hospital will be constructed.
According to the proposal for the project, the addition to the hospital will consist of four phases and is estimated to cost $32 million.
Phase one will be a new patient tower which will add 24 new private patient rooms and additional dining seating; phase two will be surgery renovation which will include a new staff lounge as well as a new surgery preparation and recovery space; phase three will consist of lab and miscellaneous renovations and will include new service elevators and the expansion of the hospital’s current labs and phase four will consist of upgrades to the behavioral and extended care rooms.
