New Idaho Falls hospital brings new opportunities for patients

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - All around the Idaho Falls Community Hospital, you can find staff working hard to prep the brand new hospital, to begin all-around care for their new patients early next week.

Chief operating officer Casey Jackman says the grand opening will bring grand opportunity.

"This is an opportunity for us to be able to step in and show them the compassion of the people working here and the dedicated skill of the physicians and we work with as well," Jackman said.

The 182,000 square-foot hospital is equipped with in-patient services, an intensive care unit, interventional cardiac imaging center and 88 private recovery rooms. It took 22 months to construct but was in the works for many years prior.

"The community had actually been asking Mountain View Hospital for quite a while if they couldn't expand their offering to be able to offer an emergency room or an acute care intensive care," Jackman said.

Federal limitations prevented Mountain View Hospital from being able to offer those services, so Idaho Falls Community Hospital became the answer.

Mountain view has also allowed the community hospital to cut costs of operations by allowing them to contract their services like human resources, maintenance, IT and, compliance.

"I don't have to recreate those departments, and so I can get those services at a reduced cost. I keep my operational costs down and I can pass that on to the consumer," Jackman said.

Emergency services manager Jeremiah Brock says, the community hospital is striving to live by an important word in their name--community--when it comes to the care of their patients.

"It really is a community, both with our with our staff, our nurses, and our doctors, everybody feels a part in it as a part of a family taking care of other people in our community," Brock said.

On Monday, the community hospital began opening its doors to anyone only needing emergency services, but they are planning to begin offering their full services on Monday.

The community hospital has around 250 employees, as well as 100 employees they contract from mountain view hospital.

There are about 100 jobs still listed on the hospital website, mostly for registered nurses and technicians.