IHS to begin work on facilities

By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer | Friday, April 28, 2006

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PINE RIDGE - Pine Ridge Indian Health Service officials will break ground for its new $6.28 million emergency room and outpatient expansion construction project today at IHS Hospital on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The day’s events begin at 9 a.m. with a flag song and guest speakers that include Bill Pourier, Pine Ridge IHS chief executive; Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder; Chief Oliver Red Cloud; Kathy Janis, OST Council Health and Human Services president; Monica Macek, IHS facilities engineer; Vern Donnell, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe IHS CEO; Lisa Dillon, OST Health and Human Services director, and representatives from the offices of U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D.

A noon meal will be served on the outdoor patio of the hospital.

Eileen Janis, health administrator for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said organizers will also honor members of the first tribal health board. “They stood up and fought for this, so we’re going to recognize them,” Janis said.

Corby Shangreau, budget assistant at IHS, said construction would begin on the one-year project in June. The Pine Ridge hospital provides medical treatment to people from throughout the reservation and residents surrounding the reservation, she said.

“The new project will offer new technologies and open new departments for health care,” Shangreau said.

Macek said that although a construction company has yet to be named, design plans call for the new expansion to be built on the east side of the hospital. The two-story expansion will add 26,000 square feet of exam rooms and other features, she said.

In renovating the emergency room, construction workers will build into existing space and connect it to the three-year-old digital X-ray unit. The emergency room will expand from its four bays and one trauma room to seven emergency exam rooms, a triage and additional space.

“We made the nursing station bigger and added a pharmacy space,” Macek said.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com