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COLUMBUS — Over half of a decade of planning, preparation and construction led to the addition of several upgrades at the Columbus Community Hospital and the surrounding buildings that play part of their operation. On Nov. 20, CCH celebrated their new additions with a dedication that featured a tour, followed by speeches by hospital officials as well as a few state dignitaries.
CCH highlighted their many additions such as the Wellness Center, a modern facility intended to provide the top care for physical therapy as well as exercise equipment, a walking track, community education classrooms and several other programs that are newly offered by the CCH system. The hospital received new labor and delivery space as well as nursery bays and 12 new beds for patient care after they have received anesthesia. The Medical Clinic also expanded with 46 new examination rooms and a new office space in the professional building.
After tours of the new improvements to the hospital, the clinic as well as the relatively recently opened Wellness Center, the dedication was held in front of a crowd that included city officials such as Lori An Gobert and Milton Koller, the respective mayors of Columbus and Weimar, as well as County Judge Ty Prause. The gathering also included some distinguished guests as Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Senator Donna Campbell and Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance and Senator Joan Huffman.
Campbell, Huffman and Patrick each shared their expressions of congratulations during their speeches, and they bestowed a resolution from the capital commending the hospital for their continued service of high-quality rural healthcare.
CEO James Vanek and Dr. Troy Millican each shared words at the dedication as well with both citing the hard work and commitment of their staff as being the reason that they have been able to show this level of growth.
After the dedication event, several crowd members stayed after to enjoy refreshments offered by CCH.
During the upgrade process, hospital staff had to continue daily operations around construction zones as the multiyear project has been in progress since 2021. The Wellness Center had its grand opening in October of 2022 before the rest of the renovations were completed throughout the clinic and the hospital.
CCH has been in operation since 1950 as the main health care operation in Columbus. Over time, the hospital has grown as the need in the area has increased as well.
The hospital system is one of the leaders in rural medicine as they have been named one of the top 100 rural hospitals in the country for each of the past five years.
While the interior of the longstanding medical facilities looks much different following the ‘facelift’ renovations, the level of care for the community in Columbus as well as the dedication by staff members are factors that CEO Vanek and the current board are planning on never changing.
