By Healthcare Facilities Today

Clarke County Hospital, a 25-bed, critical access hospital, in Osceola, Iowa, is renovating the north side of the hospital facility to house the new materials management department, according to an article on the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune.

The materials management department is responsible for all supplies and medical inventory throughout the hospital. By moving the department from its current location on the basement floor to the main floor, many challenges will be resolved, the article said.

“We will be closer to the medical departments once we move to the main floor, so we will be able to distribute the supplies efficiently,” Deb Mathes, hospital materials manager said in the article. “Moving our receiving area to the north end of the building will also allow supply trucks easier access to our loading dock, improving the flow of street traffic.”

Other facility improvements include a new emergency generator, new water piping in the kitchen area and new air handler for heating and cooling on the north side of the facility, the article said.

These renovations at Clarke County Hospital are the start of a five-year facility expansion, the article said. Funding for the $24 million project will come from hospital savings, hospital revenue bonds, general-obligation bonds and other identified sources. 

Read the article.