Welcome patients
One of the area’s longstanding health venues is being flooded with business once again.
The Hammond Clinic’s Specialty Center in Munster, ravaged by last year’s flood, celebrated its new look with an open house Sept. 14.
“We had just finished a big renovation (which began in October 2007) and then the big flood hit last September,” said Rob Jensen, executive director of business, communications and facilities development for the Hammond Clinic. The horrendous event, which damaged scores of local homes and businesses, left the clinic standing in more than 7 feet of water. Two months prior to that, a flood poured more than 2 feet of water into the health care facility.
“After the big flood, we did the new remodeling in stages,” Jansen said, adding they started with Urgent Care.
The clinic’s various departments received attractive new features including state-of-the-art equipment in the relocated second-floor Imaging Center, an expanded and modern looking reception area, larger Urgent Care department and a first-floor coffee shop offering gourmet coffee, smoothies, sandwiches and pastries.
Fagen Pharmacy and Alverno Clinical Laboratories have also been relocated to bigger areas on the first floor. In addition, flood gates have been constructed for the building.
Among the most impressive renovations at the clinic is the advanced equipment in the Imaging Center. It includes digital mammography, state-of-the-art CT and bone scanning machines, nuclear stress testing equipment and ultrasound machinery.
“We’re rivaling what the local hospitals can do,” said Beverly DeLao, administrator of Hammond Clinic.
She said the facility has also gone completely to electronic reading of medical records with a separate room housing computers for that purpose.
The positioning of the Imaging Center on the second floor was definitely strategic.
“The Imaging Center had been on the first floor and we couldn’t justify putting millions of dollars of equipment back on the first floor,” DeLao said.
Other changes in the building include artificial birch trees lining the entranceway in front of the reception area while glass panels behind the desk feature birch photos and etchings.
“We wanted something that would be welcoming and pleasant for patients,” DeLao said.
While cosmetic improvements can easily be seen, other renovations had to be made as well.
“We were forced to upgrade a lot of the infrastructure of the building including the electrical, heating, phone system, plumbing and air conditioning,” DeLao said. That second emergency renovation pushed the cost of the project well over what they planned to pay.
“We expected to spend about $1 to $2 million but the total cost of clean up, recovery and renovation was $14 million,” she said.
DeLao said the clinic’s owners and employees had been anticipating getting back into their “home” building over the past year.
“We really wanted to get back to the position of being the preeminent health care facility in the area,” she said.
According to DeLao, they’ve also already increased the “size of their primary care base” and added more doctors and specialists to the staff.
“The business has come back actually a little more than pre-flood,” she said.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish here,” DeLao said. She commended the dedication of the owners and staff in the rebuilding process. “To see the things everyone stepped in and did was wonderful.”
Right after the flood, DeLao said maintenance workers and other employees lent a hand to help with whatever was needed. “And doctors were working in cubby holes everywhere,” she said, referring to off-site facilities physicians were assigned to.
“Within 24 hours after the flood we had doctors working in other facilities,” she said. The clinic, which debuted in 1957, currently has two other locations.
The Hammond Clinic’s Specialty Center is located at 7905 Calumet Ave., in Munster. Other clinic facilities are the Wellness Center, 9800 Valparaiso Drive, Munster and the St. John Center, 11355 W. 97th Lane, St. John. FYI: 219.83.5800 or hammondclinic.com
