It has been a long time coming for the community, the groundbreaking for the Care Center will be held on Friday, March 15 at 1:30pm at 501 W. 5th St in Rifle. In November of 2017, voters of the hospital district overwhelmingly voted for a $90 million bond and mill levy to build a brand new Care Center and to add a new patient wing to the current hospital. Grand River Health Construction Manager, Connie Wilmot says, “We are very excited to break ground on the Care Center project. We know how important this project is to the community, as well as the staff and residents of the current care center. We took great time and care to design a facility the community can be proud of. We are confident the community is going to love the new facilities and amenities this new Care Center will provide!”
The new care center provides a neighborhood concept which will consist of 5 neighborhoods, and will have a total of 87 rooms. Four neighborhoods will focus on long term care and skilled nursing while the fifth, which will have 15 rooms, will be dedicated to Memory Care. Each neighborhood will feature about 18 private rooms along with a shared community gathering space and dining room. The center of the facility will host a town square which will be home to a General store, library, Spa and beauty salon along with Physical Therapy. The design is meant to mimic a community, encouraging socialization, interaction, and purpose for the residents. Each private room will have its own private bathroom. This will be a significant improvement over current conditions with residents sharing a room and sharing a bathroom with as many as three other residents. Additionally each resident in their private room will be able to enjoy a window overlooking the courtyard. Currently only half the residents have their own window due to shared rooms. “I think the residents are most excited about having their own bathrooms.” says Paul Rice, Director of Activities at the Care Center. “They have been very involved in the design process from the very beginning and their excitement grows daily as they are watching the pre-construction activity on the site”.
After the groundbreaking there will be several weeks of site prep including relocating and straightening of Hospital Hill road in partnership with the City of Rifle and also the moving and undergrounding of utilities.
As mentioned earlier, the Care Center is one of two very large projects the hospital is embarking on. “The hospital expansion will begin in mid-June. We staggered the start dates of the projects on purpose to maximize the use of construction crews and subcontractors, which will be most cost effective.” says Grand River CEO, Jim Coombs. “The patient expansion will feature 25 private inpatient rooms, a Cardio Rehab center, and expanded infusion services. Some of the space will be shelled for future usage, much like the three story medical office building was in the 2009 expansion. That building is now at capacity.” adds Coombs. “We are looking forward in the future to providing the community with even more of the healthcare services they have asked for.”
You can see the construction process unfold as well as updates by logging into grandriverhealth.org. and clicking on the construction updates tab. Both of the projects at Grand River Health are scheduled for completion in mid-2021. The groundbreaking ceremony will begin a 1:30pm on Friday, March 15 and is open to the public.
Grand River Health serving Western Garfield County, Colorado for over 55 years .Our mission to improve the health and well- being of local communities. Grand River operates Grand River Hospital and Medical Center, E. Dene Moore Care Center in Rifle, and Grand River Clinic West in Battlement Mesa. Grand River’s focus is on offering meaningful clinical, community outreach, and exceptional, local health care and is proud to be building care for our future with plans to build a new care center and Hospital Expansion, breaking ground this Spring. For more information, please visit www.grandriverhealth.org.
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