The Facility
OMC then took two tracks in its quest, developing the facility and raising the money to pay for it.
Designing the facility fell to the architects at Ellerbe Becket, Minneapolis, MN, one of the world’s leading healthcare designers. Their approach fit with the board’s goals, to design a healthcare facility that can improve operational efficiency; allow for future flexibility; provide a safe and efficient work environment for nurses and physicians, and provide safety, comfort and privacy for patients and their families.
What Ellerbe Becket came up with was a bright, 75,000-square-foot facility with a more efficient, patient-friendly layout. Patients will also find a quieter environment, expanded services and more privacy.
Prairie and river motifs run throughout the facility with river patterns in the flooring and carpeting, and soft, earth-tone colors in the wall coverings and woodwork. Outside, prairie restoration is being conducted on the site.
Behind the scenes are environmentally friendly components such as energy efficient heating and cooling systems, countertops made from recycled paper and carpeting designed to not need detergents to clean, reducing the amount of detergent byproducts from entering the waste water systems.
The next track was raising the money to pay for the facility, and that fell to the Osceola Community Health Foundation. Turning to community groups, business and industry, and organizations and other foundations, this group tried to gauge the level of support. What it found astonishing.
More than 150 people volunteered thousands of hours in an effort to reach an $8 million fund-raising goal. To date, the group has raised more than $7.6 million.
That effort propelled the project ahead, and it broke ground in April 2007.