Washington County Hospital

Description

WCHC Overview
For close to 100 years Washington County Hospital and Clinics has been providing healthcare services to Washington County and surrounding community residents Founded in 1912 the 25bed Critical Access hospital and 43bed nursing home provides inpatient outpatient longterm care and emergency services for the Washington County and surrounding areas

The hospital was originally founded as Washington County Hospital the first rural county public hospital in Iowa and perhaps the nation The name change to Washington County Hospital and Clinics WCHC occured in November of 1998 in an effort to encompass more of what our hospital offers and after completing a major expansion project In 2006 and 2007 the hospital was able to invest even more in the future of healthcare in Washington by constructing new hospital facilities These state of the art facilities offer the latest in technological advancements in healthcare while reflecting on comfort and a pleasing environment for patients and their families

WCHCs entire healthcare team strives to meet the changing medical needs of the communities we serve With todays shift to shorter hospital stays WCHC provides an extensive outpatient surgery department radiology and rehabilitation services The McCreedy Home and the Keota Community Clinic also extend the continuum of care available in our communities WCHC continuously meets healthcare needs with compassionate treatment stateoftheart technology and a competent staff of professionals

Mission Vision Values
Mission To be the central resource for improving health and promoting wellness of all our communities

Vision To provide quality healthcare that puts people first

WCHC Values A professional healthcare team dedicated to these twelve core action values

Authenticity
Courage
Perseverance
Vision
Mission
Enthusiasm
Focus
Awareness
Service
Integrity
Faith
Leadership

History

In 1907 local physicians and a nurse established the five bed Washington Hospital in a private home in the town of Washington IA In November 1910 voters approved tax funds for a hospital building thereby funding the first rural county public hospital in Iowa andor perhaps the nation The original hospital was then built in 1912 with a capacity of 3440 beds Expansion due to service demand technological advances and regulatory pressures have been a priority throughout the history of WCHC

In 1942 another addition brought the capacity of the hospital to 54 beds and 13 cribs In 1968 a new facility adjacent to the original structure was constructed and contained 50 beds The original hospital was then converted to a private long term care facility until 1988 This facility is the ML McCreedy Home after one of Washingtons most noted physicians and is a licensed 43 bed facility

Two physician clinics are also located on the WCHC campus These buildings are owned by WCHC and leased by physicians as private practice clinics Washington Medical Clinic built in 1976 is located at the east end of the 1968 building The second addition is Family Practice of Washington whose building was constructed South of the Hospital in 1990

On August 25 1997 WCHC broke ground for a 67 million expansion and renovation project which was completed on June 27 1999 The project involved three phases which added new and renovated space to several clinics and outpatient areas

On May 9 2006 WCHC again broke ground for a major construction project With the main inpatient OB and Surgery areas nearing 40 years of age deteriorating infrastructure necessitated a changeAfter a two year planning process the decision was made to move forward with a 22 million expansion and renovation projectAll patient care areas except for Physical Therapy have space in the new construction These areas include Inpatient Unit Obstetrics Radiology Surgery Emergency Room Laboratory Respiratory Therapy Pharmacy Specialty Clinics and Cardiac Rehabilitation The new addition of 50970 square feet also has new gift shop space and waiting areas for families and friends Phase I of the two phase project was complete in July of 2007 Phase 2 remodeled 28140 square feet of space for administration McCreedy Home and Physical Therapy