Fulton hospital rebranding, adding ICU beds

The Fulton Medical Center will soon be known as Callaway Community Hospital — new signs coming this month will make the name change official. The hospital is also getting a new three-bed ICU wing.
The Fulton Medical Center will soon be known as Callaway Community Hospital — new signs coming this month will make the name change official. The hospital is also getting a new three-bed ICU wing.

Fulton Medical Center is getting a new name, a new look and three new intensive care unit beds.

It's all part of owner Noble Health's ongoing effort to revamp and revive the hospital, which will now be known as Callaway Community Hospital.

"We're trying to give a new lease on life to the hospital," said Drew Solomon, president of Noble Health's real estate arm.

He updated the Callaway County Commission on Noble Health's latest initiatives Tuesday.

Solomon was most excited about the new ICU unit - CCH hasn't had ICU capacity for years. He said Noble Health has two specific purposes in reintroducing that capacity now.

"First, we need ICU beds because of everything we're going through right now," he said.

CCH currently has five beds designated for care of COVID-19 patients, and three to five of them are filled most days, he said. Though the hospital can currently perform medical interventions such as ventilation, an ICU unit will allow additional ability to stabilize patients with critical respiratory issues. Because the ICU unit will be negatively pressurized (meaning if you open the door, air flows in, not out), it will also be useful for isolating infectious patients.

"Second, it's important for a county hospital to have an ICU," Solomon said.

Having an ICU will allow the hospital to stabilize patients experiencing a variety of medical emergencies, including cardiac events and traumatic injuries, he explained. Some of those patients might later move to other hospitals for specialized care, but they need to be stabilized first to survive the trip.

"We need a bridge between the emergency room and an escalated level of care," he said. "Rural hospitals' ability to triage and stabilize patients - they save lives."

The new beds will increase CCH's total capacity from 37 beds to 40.

Because the three new beds represent less than 10 percent of the hospital's current capacity, it's not required under Missouri law to go through the "certificate of need" process, under which a facility seeks approval from the state before undertaking large capital projects. However, CCH will notify the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services of the change during its annual license renewal process and "seek their blessing" on the ICU's design, Solomon said.

Given the ongoing pandemic, he added, he doesn't "suspect they will have any issue" getting state approval.

CCH is fast-tracking the completion of the unit by working with Kansas City-based Built Interior Construction. The company will build the panels that will segregate the ICU unit from the rest of the building - wiring and all - then ship the panels to CCH for rapid installation. The three beds will occupy a wing of the hospital that held its ICU unit in the past.

"We hope to accept ICU patients by the first of the year," Solomon said.

He estimated the total cost for the new unit at $240,000.

The hospital is also purchasing new equipment for the ICU, including two brand-new ventilators.

All three Callaway County commissioners expressed interest in using the county's federal CARES Act money to help fund the project. Callaway's $5.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds must be used or returned by Dec. 31, and more than $1 million is left, Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann said.

"This, to me, plays into one of the reasons we got this money from the federal government," Jungermann said.

Critical care nurses will be the ICU unit's primary staff, Solomon said. Noble Health is currently seeking to hire additional nurses of many types.

Facelift

Solomon rattled off a number of other improvements and additions underway.

There's an infusion center in development in another building on the hospital's campus - the wiring is done, and sheetrocking will begin soon. Sometime in December, the hospital will be getting new signs bearing the Callaway Community Hospital name to guide visitors around campus and increase the CCH's visibility.

Buildings on the CCH campus, including the hospital itself, will get a new coat of paint and other repairs and updates to their facades, in hopes of tying together buildings constructed in different decades with different architectural styles.

Solomon and Noble Health hope the new services and new look - along with efforts such as the recruitment of additional doctors and the availability of surgical procedures - will help draw Callaway County residents to the hospital for their medical care needs.

"We're making a substantial investment - solidly a couple of million dollars," he said. "The facility has to look the part."