SOUTH HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The South Hutchinson Police Department will once again participate in the statewide Drug Take Back Day. The event, which is held twice a year, will be Saturday, Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the South Hutchinson Police Department.

This is the 12th opportunity in six years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to the South Hutchinson Police Department at 10 E. Blanchard Ave. There are some limitations as the DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 447 tons (over 893,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,400 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 11 previous Take Back events, the DEA and its partners have taken in over 6.4 million pounds — about 3,200 tons — of pills.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the Oct. 22 Take Back Day event, go to the DEA Diversion website.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Regional Medical Center (HRMC) announced Saturday that it will build a new state-of-the-art 18-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) addition to the hospital. In addition, the 41-year-old facility will receive an electrical upgrade as part of a $23 million project that will be paid for with a Hutchinson Regional Medical Foundation donation and hospital revenue bonds.

Ken Johnson, the president and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System (HRHS), says the new ICU will help meet the changing healthcare needs of the community. “Patients coming into the hospital today are often sicker than in the past. Our ICU structure has not been updated since HRMC opened in 1975. The new ICU will accommodate new equipment and technology, improving care for our patients.”

The existing ICU at the hospital consists of rooms too small to accommodate the equipment, cables and suction necessary for modern intensive care. During recent construction of the new Emergency Department, the ICU was moved to the 4th floor of HRMC, which highlighted the need for a facility upgrade. A recent article in critical Care magazine said the average ICU in American healthcare facilities has not changed substantially since the 1950s.

Wes Hoyt, the Chief Operating Officer of HRHS, says the hospital has an exciting opportunity to create the premiere ICU in the region: “The technology around care has changed, and we are pleased that Hutchinson Regional Medical Center can update our facility so we will be in good shape to provide critical care for the next 20 to 30 years.” The electrical system upgrade will improve the management and distribution of the emergency power systems to increase reliability.

To make sure the new ICU would meet the needs of patients and their families, as well as doctors and medical staff, members of the HRMC ICU team were actively involved in the design. JoAnn Rivera, RN, Director of Patient Care Services for ICU, has been with HRMC for 26 years and says the new design will make a huge difference in patient care. “The new unit will be round, which will allow nurses to see patients from anywhere within the unit, and will utilize centralized ‘booms’ over the patient beds for cables and suction. When we toured other ICU’s to see what worked best, those were improvements that we saw will make a big difference.”

The design will decentralize the ICU nursing station, placing two nursing work stations between every two rooms. Each room will be plumbed for dialysis and will have adequate space for family members to stay with the patient. Research shows having family present improves patient recovery. The interdisciplinary group that collaborated on the design included: Vice President of Patient Care Services, Julie Ward, MSN; Jon Miller, RN, ICU staff nurse; Beth Schwabauer, RN, ICU Charge Nurse; Courtney Eales, RN, ICU Charge Nurse; Mark Wilson, Director of Materials Management; Mickey Bowen, Supervisor of Information Services, and Patrick Mowder, PHARM D, Director of Pharmacy

The bulk of the funding for the project will come from hospital revenue bonds, which involve no city financial responsibility and no taxes. The hospital will generate the revenue used to pay back bondholders. No rate has yet been assigned for the bonds, though current low bond rates make this the optimal way to finance.

The $4 million donation from Hutchinson Regional Medical Foundation will get the project started. Jim Gilliland is the chairman of the Foundation Board: “This project is one the Foundation is very excited to help fund. The people of Hutchinson and Reno County deserve the best in care, and the new ICU will provide top-quality care in our hometown.”

Dr. Timothy Crater is an Internist with the Hutchinson Clinic who has admitted patients to the HRMC ICU for years. “The new ICU will provide doctors and ICU staff the surroundings and equipment necessary to offer the most attentive care possible. The fact that the ICU staff was intimately involved in the design of the project ensures it will offer the upgrades and improvements needed to bring Intensive Care delivery up to the next level.”

Kim Moore is the vice-chair of the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center board. “This project is the next necessary step in keeping the HRMC facility updated to continue to provide for the healthcare needs of the community,” Moore explained. “Doing the ICU and the electrical upgrade concurrently also provides some economies of scale in already having equipment and workers onsite. The Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System is a community asset, and this project greatly enhances the quality of that asset.”

The General Contractor for the project is Nabholz, and the architect is Health Facilities Group (HPG). Professional Engineering Consultants, P.A. are the engineers for the electrical upgrade. The project will take about 2 years to complete.

HARVEY COUNTY – For the second day in row, first responders were on the scene of Thursday’s chemical spill in Hesston.

Just after 5 p.m. on Friday, GVL Poly of Hesston had to be evacuated after report of a sick employee was made to 911, according to a media release.

Emergency crews transported four victims to Newton Medical Center and two were taken to Saint Francis Hospital.

There was no actual chemical spill located in the plant. First shift workers worked their shift without any incident. Investigators are attempting to find out what may be the cause for this of Friday’s incident.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It has been more than a year in the making, but on Wednesday TECH of Hutchinson announced that it will build an art gallery and retail center in the lower level of the Wiley Building. TECH President Brenda Maxi also announced that the administration offices will move to the Main Street location.

The gallery and retail center will occupy more than 8,200 square feet of space in the Wiley Building with the gallery and retail center on the lower floor, and offices in the mezzanine. TECH will also continue to occupy the old Midwest Feed building, which houses TECH’s live skills center and art studio.

Work at the Wiley building is already underway and is expected to be completed by January of next year.

The project is a joint effort by TECH and Manske and Associates, owners of the Wiley Building. Both sides have been working for the past 18 months to make the project possible.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The City of Hutchinson is in search of a new fire chief. Kim Forbes announced to the City Council Tuesday that he will retire effective Nov. 25.

Forbes came to the Hutchinson Fire Department as an entry-level firefighter in 1976 and worked his way through the ranks, eventually becoming the chief. His latest endeavor has been to rebuild the city’s fire stations. One has just been completed with another scheduled for completion next year and a third to be completed within the next three years. The third station will become the command headquarters for the entire department.

A search committee is being formed immediately, and an interim chief is expected to be named in the next two or three days.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Starting Tuesday, Dillons Stores will kick off their ClickList shopping at the Hutchinson Marketplace store at 30th and Waldron. ClickList is Dillons new online grocery ordering system.

With ClickList, customers order their groceries online at www.dillons.com/clicklist. On the website, the customer creates their shopping list, selects a pick-up time, selects a location, and then places the online order. Next, a Dillons ClickList associate hand picks the order and stores it in temperature-appropriate zones until the customer arrives. Last, the customer pulls their vehicle up in the designated pick-up lane and a ClickList associate accepts payment and loads the order in their car.

The online orders can be created on computers or smart phones with internet access, and orders placed before midnight are available for pick-up the next day at a specific time chosen by the customer. Curbside pick-up may be scheduled 7 days a week from 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

And as an introductory offer, Dillons will waive the $4.95 service charge for each customer’s first three orders. Both electronic and paper coupons are welcome at the pick-up area, which for the Hutchinson store will be on the east side near the Pharmacy pick-up window. Special parking will be available for ClickList customers.  

Pharmacy prescriptions are not included in the program.

 

HUTCHINSON, Kan — The Board of Directors of Heartland Credit Union announced today that Dan Springer will be  the next President/CEO of Heartland Credit Union. He will assume his role as President/CEO on Oct. 10.

Springer succeeds Garth Strand, who is retiring from HCU after 36 years.

Strand began working at Heartland Credit Union in August of 1980 as Vice President of Lending. In May of 1989, he was promoted to President, taking the helm of a credit union with two branches, $23 million in assets, and approximately 8,500 members. Since then, HCU has grown to six branches and $274 million in assets with over 22,700 members.

Springer majored in Accounting and Business Administration with an emphasis in finance, obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree from Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Wichita State University. He also holds a Certified Public Accountant Certificate.

Strand says that he will stay on to assist with a smooth transition.