KIMBALL - Kimball Health Services is set to break ground on a new $43.6 million hospital on the playground of the former West Elementary School at 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

The groundbreaking will kickoff an 18-month construction project to replace the current 70-year-old facility. Completion of the new 61,200 square-foot hospital, located two blocks from the current facility, is expected in the Fall of 2023.

Kimball Health Services CEO Ken Hunter said he's focused on the hospital staff and their ability to take local healthcare to a new level.

“The hospital of the future is more than bricks and mortar,” Hunter said. “They alone don’t make a great hospital. People do. Up-to-date facilities matter a lot, but what matters most is the people staffing the hospital and operating the equipment. I’m extremely proud of our health providers and the entire hospital staff and believe they’re more than up to the challenge.”

Tripling the size of the current hospital, the new Kimball Health Services will feature up-to-date, private patient areas, larger inpatient rooms and bathrooms, wider major corridors and in-house MRI and CT scanner services.

It'll also provide space to accommodate additional services including mammography, cardiac rehabilitation, chemotherapy infusions, orthopedic procedures, and expanded surgical options.

An expanded physical therapy department will include a walking track and kitchen for home-based activity therapy, an expanded ER department, a covered ambulance bay and a helipad.

Kimball County Commissioner Carl Stander calls the groundbreaking an exciting time for the residents of Kimball.

“I believe it is the responsibility of elected officials to protect and maintain a quality of life for their citizens,” Stander said. “This new hospital project not only protects, but greatly improves the quality of life for Kimball County and the surrounding area.”

The project is financed by a pair of 40-year USDA loans totaling $34.2 million, $6.4 million in general obligation revenue bonds approved by Kimball County, several grants, and a capital fundraising campaign of $2.2 million.

General contractors Haselden Construction Company, of Centennial, Colo., will lead the project starting June 1.