Visitors were led through a guided tour of the improvements in the over 35,000 square foot addition to the hospital, learning more about how the new additions will improve patient care.

“The open house is our way of thanking the community for their ongoing support and showcasing how their contributions have helped us enhance our health care services,” said GCMH Administrator Adam Scherling in a press release earlier this month.

After the tour, the public was invited to partake in a light lunch provided by the Tama County Pork Producers, enjoy live music from Beauty and the Beat and get the kids involved making some big bubbles that floated across Entrance 4, the new entrance added in this expansion.

Hospital staff was also on site to provide temporary tattoos, take signups for a door prize drawing and even administer immediate flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER — Visitors to Sunday’s Open House Celebration at Grundy County Memorial Hospital get in line for a light lunch provided by the Tama County Pork Producers.

The $31.5 million project was funded through financing as well as a $24 million loan from the USDA; the GCMH Foundation added $1.2 million in fundraising through July 2024. Ground broke on the project in June 2022. and the new additions have opened throughout 2024 leading up to Sunday’s event.

Additions include a new space for Senior Life Solutions in the former surgery place; adding three new exam rooms and a new nurse workspace in former imaging department spaces; an expanded lab that is twice as large and recently set a record for the hospital with 8,200 tests performed in July.

A new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and CT scanner have been added to the imaging department, as well as diagnostic services like ultrasound, 3D mammography and dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) — an MRI machine was previously parked outdoors in a mobile trailer.

The surgery department has a new 16,000-square-foot area with modern infection control including special lighting and also has improved patient privacy while also expanding the space to perform more surgeries in the future.

The hospital cut the ribbon on the project on Thursday night, with hospital leaders, Board of Commissioners, Foundation Board and other partners and stakeholders officially celebrating the completion of the expansion.

Tour guides explain the various additions to GCMH’s new lab department during Sunday’s Open House Celebration.

A new MRI unit is pictured in GCMH’s expanded imaging department.