The reason for those piles was revealed Thursday when hospital leaders announced that construction has started on a $39.8 million project that will produce new surgical facilities.

Leah Glasgo, market president for UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge, described the project as a “bold step forward for health care in our community.”

“We’re investing in what matters most — patient outcomes and safety,” she told a large group of hospital employees, supporters and donors who gathered Thursday to celebrate the project.

A fundraising campaign led by Casey and Deb Johnson, of Fort Dodge, is generating some of the money needed to pay for the project.

Deb Johnson served on the board of directors for UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge and now serves on the board that oversees the entire UnityPoint Health system.

“I do it because I love it,” she said Thursday. “I believe in this hospital. I believe in what it has done.”

The Johnsons also have a deeply personal reason to support the local hospital in general and its surgical services in particular. Last fall, Casey Johnson was diagnosed with cancer in his small intestine. The condition required surgery to remove the cancer.

He said he never considered having his surgery anywhere else but UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center.

“I was given the most outstanding first class treatment and care at every step of the process,” he said.

New surgery center by the numbers Five operating rooms Two endoscopy suites 24 pre and post operative rooms $39.8 million cost 2027 completion date

He said that because of the very short time between his diagnosis and his surgery, all of the cancer was removed and all of his followup tests have shown him to be cancer free. He said he would not have been able to get such a quick surgery date if he had gone anywhere else.

“We are truly honored to lead this campaign,” he said.

Alyssa Stanek, executive director of the UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center Foundation, described the Johnsons as “phenomenal chairs” for the fundraising campaign.

Stanek said the Foundation is contributing $10 million to the surgery center project. She said $7 million will come from funds already on hand and $3 million will come from the fundraising campaign. She said $2.1 million has been raised already.

Astra Ferris, the chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, described Thursday’s event as “an exciting day for Fort Dodge and the entire region.”

The investment in a new surgery center sends ” a very powerful message” to people outside of Fort Dodge and Webster County, she said.

The project will consolidate all inpatient and outpatient surgery services in a new area just west of the main entrance of the hospital. Now the inpatient and outpatient surgery areas are in two different places in the building.

The hospital’s current inpatient surgery area opened in 1979 and remains essentially unchanged, Glasgo said. She added that there is no feasible way to renovate that area.

The project, she said, has been planned for five years.