“As part of our strategic plan, we dug into data on population trends in our market area,” said Cindy Carstens, CEO of Stewart Memorial, which primarily serves people within a 30-mile radius of Lake City, including parts of a seven-county region. “We were all surprised to see the numbers showing a 1 percent growth in the number of females in their child-bearing years.”

That demographic is defined by females ages 18 to 44 in the hospital’s data. Many of these women are marrying farmers in the area, Carstens noted.

Other young families locate in the area so they can raise their children in a small-town environment. These families are choosing to receive healthcare at Stewart Memorial, where 80 to 100 babies have been born each year for the past several years.

Demand for Stewart Memorial’s services is also evident in other areas. In the past two years, the hospital saw a 21 percent increase in patient visits to rehab services, which include physical, occupational and speech therapy. Outpatient services, including cardiac rehab and respiratory therapy, saw an increase of 18 percent since 2015.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Jim Henkenius (left), chief financial officer at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital in Lake City, and Jesse Underwood, director of development, marketing and volunteer services at SMCH, review artists’ renderings of the $31 million renovation/expansion planned for the hospital. The project will include the emergency department, rehab services, cardiac rehab, respiratory therapy and the business office. Groundbreaking for this two-year project is slated to begin in July 2020.

To meet these needs, the hospital is undertaking a $31 million expansion and renovation project involving the emergency department, rehab services, cardiac rehab, respiratory therapy and the business office. Groundbreaking for this two-year project is slated for July 2020.

“Health care close to home is important to people,” Carstens said. “Everything we’re doing revolves around patients’ needs for increased privacy, security, safety and efficiency.”

Size of rehab services

center will triple

The renovations will create private exam and treatment rooms in the emergency room. The ER will be moved closer to the patient wing, increasing availability and efficiency for nursing staff.

Separate hallways for public and private use will be created to ensure patient privacy.

“Everything is designed to create a safe, welcoming, healing atmosphere,” said Jesse Underwood, director of development, marketing and volunteer services at Stewart Memorial.

The expansion project will triple the size of the rehab services center. The new rehab center will include services for traditional and niche therapy interventions. SMCH therapists have completed advanced training in the areas of lymphedema, pelvic dysfunction, vertigo, industrial rehab and other specialties.

A new helicopter landing area will be placed in a restricted area, and emergency traffic will flow separately from main traffic flow.

These renovations and expansions represent major milestones in the history of the hospital, which was built in 1962.

“All this will help SMCH recruit and retain the best medical staff, while serving as a catalyst for economic development in the area,” said Carstens, who noted the hospital has received overwhelming support from the community for the renovation/expansion project.

Local business leaders

provide major

fundraising boost

The majority of the funding for the project ($29 million) will be provided through a U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development grant, which includes a 40-year payback period with an interest rate around 2.75 percent.

Remaining dollars will come from financing through United Bank of Iowa and local community support.

“Our fundraising goal is $2.25 million, and we just exceeded $1.5 million in fundraising,” Underwood said.

A generous gift from Nancy and Gus Macke, owners of Macke Motors, Inc., in Lake City, will establish the new rehab services center.

“Our community has two great things going for it: our school system and our hospital,” said Gus Macke, who has lived in Lake City since 1971 and has announced high school football games in Lake City for the last 45 years.

“We have to protect that,” he said.”Nancy and I are doing everything we can to make sure those two institutions survive well into the future.”

Through the years, the Mackes have utilized a variety of services at the hospital, which is located right next door to their car dealership. Gus Macke visited the physical therapy department often following his knee replacement surgery, while Nancy Macke has relied on Stewart Memorial for physical therapy for her shoulder. Both agreed that SMCH’s therapists are excellent, but the rehab space was small and not very private.

“To stay competitive, you need to stay viable to current customers, you need appeal to people on the edge of your service area, and you need to be able to attract high quality medical professionals,” said Gus Macke.

The Mackes donated a farm in Greene County to help create the hospital’s new rehab services center, which will be named in the couple’s honor.

“The Stewart Memorial Community Foundation is blessed to have this wonderful family as a part of our future,” Underwood said. “The positive difference their contribution will make for our patients and community will last for generations.”

Envisioning the future

As the project moves forward, the SMCH team is working with the architectural firm CMBA, which specializes in hospital projects. While CMBA provided the initial drawings for the expansion as a springboard, Stewart Memorial employees split into three teams in early 2019 to help design specific solutions that will work best for patients and staff.

“These aren’t top-down decisions,” Carstens said. “We wanted input from our team members who will be working in these spaces.”

Employees from rehab services, cardiac rehab, housekeeping, respiratory therapy, the business office and maintenance spent five days in Lake City working with the P3 process (planning, packaging, perfecting) that CMBA uses. Using cardboard, tape and ingenuity, staff members built models of several of the hospital’s new rooms to get a feel for the proper size and placement of equipment.

“The staff loved it,” Carstens said. “Building the models not only speeds up the design and implementation process, but it decreases the need for changes later on.”

This helps Stewart Memorial ensure that the renovation/expansion project will meet the needs of the community, now and into the future.

“Buildings and equipment are essential, but the culture of SMCH is also key,” Carstens added. “You’re not just a number here. You’re family.”