The effort is estimated to cost $39.8 million.

It is scheduled to start this summer and be complete in the spring of 2027.

When completed, the front of the hospital at 802 Kenyon Road will appear different, with a new wing to the west of the main entrance. That entrance, however, will remain in the same location.

Currently, there are operating rooms in three locations within the hospital, according to Leah Glasgo, president of UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge. The upcoming project will consolidate all of the operating rooms in one area at the front of the hospital.

She said the new surgical area will include five operating rooms, each measuring 700 square feet, two endoscopy suites, recovery rooms, pre- and post-operative rooms, sterile processing and other support facilities.

Glasgo said there will be no interruption in surgical services while the project is underway.

In addition to providing state-of-the-art surgical care, it is hoped that the new facilities will provide another bonus, she said.

“We hope it helps us recruit and retain surgeons,” she said.

The surgery renovation project will commence just months after the hospital opened Trinity Heart Center.

In April 2024, Iowa Heart Center announced it would no longer provide 24-hour-a-day cardiology services in Fort Dodge. UnityPoint Health leaders quickly prepared a plan to take over those services, and the new Trinity Heart Center opened in October.

“I am very happy and very proud to be part of the new team,” Dr. Joseph Cookman, the medical director of Trinity Heart Center, said in August when the new clinic was announced. “We are going to continue providing the care that we have been providing and maybe expand upon that. There are some things that we do better here than they do in Des Moines.”

Reflecting on the first few months of the center’s operation, Glasgo said, “It’s been such a wonderful success.”

The Heart Center is not the only new thing the hospital added in 2024. In November, a new family planning clinic opened. Glasgo said UnityPoint Health received a grant to provide family planning services to people with limited or no health insurance coverage.

During 2024, the hospital received numerous awards, such as recognition from the American Heart Association for treatment of heart attacks and heart failure. Glasgo is especially proud of the fact that Trinity Regional Medical Center received the top employee engagement score among all the entities within the UnityPoint Health system.

“We’re really focusing on retaining our employees,” she said. “Our people are our No. 1 priority.”

In December, the hospital celebrated 130 years of providing health care in the community, dating back to the establishment of the first hospital. The celebration included a return to the hospital by former leaders Tom Tibbitts and Sue Thompson.