GENESEO, Illinois – As rural health care continues facing challenges in recruiting medical professionals and those just beginning their careers, Hammond-Henry Hospital believes it has a remedy.
In early March, the Geneseo hospital began construction of a new facility on its 600 N. College Ave. campus to provide temporary housing for medical students and visiting staff. The $400,000 outbuilding also will boast two garage bays for hospital vehicles and additional storage.
“Providing housing is commonplace for medical students and locum (or traveling) medical professionals,” Katie Orwig, the manager of Hammond-Henry Hospital Foundation, recently told the QCBJ. “Staying at a hotel for weeks or months at a time doesn’t have the same appeal as ‘your own space.’ Showing our employees or potential employees that we care enough to provide an accommodating space to live while they are with us is a fair reflection of what it is like to be an employee of Hammond-Henry Hospital.”
Ms. Orwig said the long-awaited project was made possible, in large part, due to donations from the Geneseo Foundation, Francis G. & Betty J. Miller Foundation, a gift from the Hammond-Henry Hospital Endowment, and Jo Ann Parsons Memorial. The donations provided a combined gift of more $142,000, she said.
The 40-foot by 48-foot one-story structure was designed and is being built on the north side of the campus by Greiner Buildings, headquartered in Washington, Iowa, with operations nearby Geneseo in Kewanee, Illinois.
Ms. Orwig said the hospital considered three campus sites before the hospital’s board approved the project in December 2023. “The other two spaces weeded themselves out with either size or infrastructure constraints,” she said in an email.
Before going out to bid, Hammond-Henry met with neighbors to get their feedback on the plans. “A few, but very reasonable, requests were made by the neighbors and we are honoring those requests,” she added.
Other benefits
Once the facility is completed, preference will be given to medical students and locum physicians, but she said at times when the hospital does not have any staying there making the apartments open to other traveling staff or other staffers who could be stranded due to inclement weather.
In addition, the future facility will reduce the hospital’s ongoing hotel and rental costs. “A locum physician may be covering an emergency department physician while on vacation. Currently, the hospital incurs hotel or rental costs for students and locum physicians,” she said in a news release. “Adding these accommodations will be a cost savings.”
Ms. Orwig also said the new studio apartments also will include kitchens for guests to cook their own food which “is a desirable amenity. Not many hotels in our area provide that.”
Lastly, the new Hammond-Henry building will include two garage bays to house two hospital-owned vehicles, including an HHH Long Term Care-operated van and a courier vehicle that delivers supplies between the hospital and HHH clinic in Kewanee, Colona and Annawan. The new bays, the hospital’s first standalone garage, will keep the vehicles safe from harsh weather and vandalism as well as help to prolong their life.
Likewise, the added storage space will benefit many departments. “As large as the hospital is, storage is always in great demand,” she said.
From dream to reality
According to Ms. Orwig, offering such housing options has been an idea that has come and gone. She credits her predecessor, Darcy Helpner, and Plant Services Manager Dwayne Thurston with previously pitching the idea.
Asked about the turning point, she said it was “Having leadership in place that supported the project was key in making this project happen.”
After securing funding from the Geneseo Foundation, Francis and Betty Miller Foundation, Hammond-Henry Hospital Foundation Endowment and memorial funds from Jo Ann Parsons, the dream started to become a reality, she said.
Ms. Orwig said there also was an interesting connection between the Parson family and the new housing option.
Ms. Parsons’s husband was Dr. James Parsons, who practices at Hammond-Henry from 1957-1994. The couple and their children regularly opened their home to many prospective physicians and medical students.
Dr. Parsons recruited many physicians to the hospital, including Dr. Donald Ford, Dr. Randy Mullin and Dr. Even Kvelland, who spent their entire careers serving Geneseo and surrounding communities, becoming strong community leaders.
“The memorial funds were a ‘tip of the hat’ to the work that the Parsons family did to help secure talent. It is fitting that Jo’s final gift will continue that mission,” Ms. Orwig said.
