Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
An open house was held Tuesday for Beyer Medical Building, which will house Kosciusko Community Hospital imaging, laboratory and pre-operative services and doctors' offices for Northern Lakes Internal Medicine.
Services will be provided in the new facility starting Monday.
The building, at 1205 Provident Drive, was named for the original owners of the land on which KCH and surrounding medical buildings were built. Fred and Yvonne Beyer, original landowners of what was called Beyer Farms, attended the opening ceremonies.
Kosciusko Imaging Center will feature the GE Signa OpenSpeed MRI, which combines comfort, speed and quality. The OpenSpeed can decrease procedure time by 30 to 50 percent. According to Stephen Damon, imaging department director, services also will incorporate PACS technology that eliminates the need for film in radiology. Images will be migrated to a computer screen and also be available via remote Web access.
KCH Satellite Laboratory Services will include routine blood collections, glucose tolerance testing and therapeutic phlebotomy. The new outpatient area will include five private rooms for blood draws, medical procedures and to perform electrocardiograms.
The KCH pre-operative testing and teaching program facilities will allow registered nurses to perform patient assessment and instruction for patients scheduled for elective surgery.
Northern Lakes Internal Medicine will occupy the southern side of the building, providing ample spaces for examining rooms, record storage, nurses' stations and offices. The doctors affiliated with NLIM are Dana Coates, Gregory Haase, Luan Nguyen, Hung Vo, Charles Marting, Becky Johnson and Michael Musgrave.
Michael Mullins, chief executive officer of KCH, welcomed the group. He said, "I also want to honor Mr. and Mrs. Beyer and the doctors who had the foresight to select this location."
Dr. John Davis, chairman of the KCH board of directors, addressed the growth and vitality of health care offerings. He said, "Triad Health is an important partner. Since 1999, $47 million has been invested in KCH. There are four reasons for the growth and improvement in medical services. No. 1 is the association with Triad; No. 2 is our position in Lutheran Health Network; No. 3 is the makeup of our board of directors - half are physicians; and No. 4 is Michael Mullins, whose vision has made innovative changes in the medical field possible."
Dr. Gregory Haase, senior physician with NLIM, welcomed the group, thanked the Beyer family and gave a brief history of how NLIM has grown from his single practice to nine providers, 18 dedicated office staff members and 8,000 patients.
Dr. Steven Hossler was introduced as the new president of the KCH medical staff. He said, "This (new building) demonstrates our dedication to the community. We want to help you stay here, so you won't have to go to Fort Wayne or Indianapolis for special tests or new technology."
Pastor John Teevan gave the blessing for the facility to close the opening ceremonies.
