By Carol Stiffler
The patient experience at Helen Newberry Joy Hospital and its clinics will soon have a much different feel.
The hospital is launching multiple projects this summer, including renovation of their Newberry interior and demolition of the Manistique Lakes Family Clinic in Curtis. A new clinic will be built in its place in Curtis.
“With these projects, we are reinvesting in the future of our healthcare system and our community,” said Hunter Nostrant, CEO of Helen Newberry Joy Hospital.
The hospital has secured funding for several projects and is finishing up the loan process for other parts of the major work. The price tag for these initial projects is $3.5 million.
At the start, the hospital is seeking beautiful photographs from around the Upper Peninsula. The hospital released an announcement Monday for a photo contest they’re running in conjunction with the Erickson Center for the Arts in Curtis. Anyone can submit up to five photos for consideration in the project. Photos should feature the nature and landscape of the Upper Peninsula, but not have any faces in them.
The photos will pay homage to the rugged and naturally beautiful U.P., said hospital spokesperson Cassie Fossitt. Beautiful pictures in hospital settings are known to have a healing effect, she noted.
The pictures will be used to decorate walls in the hallways, doctor rooms, and in-patient hospital rooms. Fossitt said the hospital has room for many photos, even upwards of 50. See more details of the photo contest on page 2.
Inside the hospital, the HVAC units will soon be replaced in the operating room and lab. This project will take approximately three weeks, and during part of that time a temporary wall will be constructed in the main lobby. The wall will allow for patient privacy, dust control, and will partially conceal the work in progress on the HVAC ducts. Prep for the project begins on June 21.
Renovation in the hallways, patient rooms, and in-patient rooms will see updated flooring – including the removal of all carpet – and new colors on the walls. Fossitt said the look and feel of the renovated areas will be much like the main entrance area, which was previously updated. Hallways and doors will be color-coded to help people find their way around.
Work will largely be done outside business hours to minimize disruption to visitors, Fossitt said. No entrances or passageways will ever be fully blocked, so patients will be able to enter and exit like they normally would.
In Curtis, large dumpsters have been onsite for weeks, and a mobile unit is expected to be delivered this week. Between now and July 1, medical and office necessities will be migrated into the mobile unit, and patients will be seen there. The existing clinic will be demolished this summer, with a new clinic expected to open in the spring of 2022.
Artistic renderings for the Curtis clinic are expected to be available soon.
