Martin City Council hears of Bennett County Hospital expansion plan

By Cody Rose

The regular City Council meeting on September 7, began with Mayor Gary Rayhill proclaiming the week of September 17 through September 23, as Constitution Week...

Michael Christensen, CEO, Bennett County Hospital, Nursing Home and Rural Health Clinic, presented a summary of major activity from the last five months since he started in his position as CEO. He began by telling the council about the city-wide HAZMAT disaster drill that the hospital, ambulance service, emergency department and the fire department were all involved in. He said that it went great and “overall we did very well and the OST safety officers were very impressed with the performance of our ambulance crew, our disaster response, and our emergency room.”

Christensen stated that an architect was hired to complete a preliminary architect report. From this report, Christensen reads, “historically, part of this building was built by two doctors that started way back in 1923. 2023 is the 100 year anniversary of the organization.” Christensen is pushing for the project to be completed by the 100 year anniversary.

He said the plan was to tear down the south wing of the hospital and replace it, and expand west into the current parking lot. The emergency room door will be facing west toward Highway 73 and be much more accessible. He got opinions from architects, ambulance drivers and more when designing the building. … to continue reading, you may purchase a newspaper at the Bennett County Booster II in Martin, S.D., participating retailers or online at https://bennettcountyboostersd.com/subscriptions.

*The attached blueprints are not final*