New Hospital Coming to Dickinson | Video

Jessica Roose | 8/23/2012

Dickinson is booming, but the influx of people isn`t causing medical care in the area to suffer. It`s only going to get better when a new hospital opens up on the west side of town, offering 25 five beds for patients that require hospitalization.

"We`ll be able to serve all the current needs for the community in southwest North Dakota. With the 25 beds, there is a misconception out there that that`s not enough beds to handle the capacity. Our average daily census though has been about fourteen," said President and CEO of St. Joseph`s, Reed Raymond.

He says that`s because outpatient procedures are becoming more common. But addressing the growing health care needs isn`t the only benefit to having the new hospital built in town. Senator Kent Conrad met with St. Joseph administrators and said he was pleased that the facility will add nearly 400 jobs to the community.

"Think about that, that`s a lot of jobs in this community. Obviously the most important thing is the health care that`s provided here, and this will be a state of the art facility," said Conrad.

Raymond says much of the hospital`s success and growth can be attributed to its ability to gain critical access status, which allows it to be reimbursed based on costs.

"Just being reimbursed by our costs, we were able to go from about a negative seven percent margin to a positive five percent margin the very first year we became critical access," Raymond said.

But for a growing community like Dickinson, all that matters is that there will be more services available to those who need it.

Construction will start on November 1. It will take about 19 months to complete.

COMMENT ON THIS STORY