But the beam in question was different. It was painted white and was covered in signatures.

It was also the last piece of structural steel to be put in place as the construction of a $39.8 million surgery center at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center progresses.

“This is a special moment in our surgery project,” Leah Glasgo, president of UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge, said moments before a mammoth crane easily whisked the beam up and away.

To mark that special moment, UnityPoint Health leaders invited members of the community to sign the beam, then held a short gathering with hospital staff, the public and the Ambassadors of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Signatures cover both sides of the I-beam that was hoisted into place Monday evening at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center as construction of the new surgery center advances.

When complete in March 2027, the new surgical facility will include:

• Five operating room suites.

• Two endoscopy suites.

• 24 pre- and post-operative rooms.

• Sterile processing.

Glasgo said she has been asked why the hospital is taking on such a big project. The answer, she said, is simple: “our patients.”

“We want to create the best environment possible for your care,” 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 inpatient surgery area opened in 1979 and remains essentially unchanged. There is no feasible way to renovate that area.

The new surgery center has been planned for about five years.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held June 19.

At the conclusion of Glasgo’s remarks, the crane lifted the beam and moved it to the steel skeleton of the new building, where two construction workers were waiting to guide it into place.