Boyd plans 2022 opening of Therapy and Wellness Center
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Here is an architect’s drawing of the new Boyd Hospital Therapy Wellness Center which will be located in the old IGA building. In the center will be a large walking track along with numerous fitness equipment in the center. At the top will be individual physical therapy rooms, along with numerous exam rooms, a nurse’s room, a classroom and a waiting room. At the bottom will be men’s and women’s locker rooms, a concession stand area and the hydrotherapy room. (Submitted photo)
By Carmen Ensinger
Thomas H. Boyd Hospital purchased the old IGA building back in November of 2020, but until not, nothing really note-worthy has occurred to stir the public interest.
But in the past few weeks, significant progress can be seen on the outside, including a large hole dug on the south side of the building which will be the new enclosed therapy pool in the very near future.
“We have been working on the inside of the building for quite some time now, but it wasn’t anything you could actually see, so we have held off on making any real announcement until now,” Boyd Hospital CEO Debbie Campbell said. “But once they dug the big hole for the therapy pool and had that large mound of dirt sitting there, people started to notice and we felt it was time we made the announcement.”
Campbell said the inside of the building has been completely gutted.
“The whole thing has been completely gutted out – you wouldn’t even recognize it now – it is huge inside,” she said. “They have the walls up now for the different areas and we have the tile and carpeting ordered.”
Most of the work has been done using local contractors, including the general contractor, plumbing and HVAC.
“The way we look at it, we want the community to support us so why shouldn’t we support the community,” Campbell said. “They have all worked so well together to get things done and its been a very good process. We want to support our own county as much as we can.”
The building will replace the therapy unit currently at the hospital for all forms of therapy except cardiac rehab.
“We have to keep the cardiac rehab at the hospital and we will keep some therapy at the hospital for our inpatient and swing bed patients,” Campbell said. “But for the most part, if anyone outside of the hospital came there for therapy, once we get open, they will then come to our new facility for it.”
That is good news for therapy patients because although they will still be on hospital property, the COVID restrictions might be less stringent than in the actual hospital.
“There will still be certain restrictions we have to follow, but the best thing of all is that there will be no sick people in that building,” Campbell said. “The restrictions there will not be nearly as tight as they are here at the hospital.”
Those looking forward to the therapy pool might have a while to wait.
“The therapy pool will be the last thing that goes in,” Campbell said. “We are going to close the pool in, but the pool itself is on backorder and they are saying it could take six to nine months to get the pool in. So, for now, we just keep trudging ahead. The walls are up in the building, the HVAC and electric is in and we’ve got the carpeting and tile picked out. We anticipate an opening in early 2022.”
Campbell said when it gets a little bit closer to being up and going they will have a grand opening to show off the new facility.
