OMHC fire sprinkler project to begin July 5 with Phase 1

As a result of our most recent Washington State Department of Health Survey, Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center must be protected throughout the facility by an approved, supervised, automatic sprinkler system. Because it is an older facility, OMHC has been grandfathered in over the years. Now, however, it has become a requirement for us to ensure that the automatic sprinkler system is installed throughout the facility.

Currently, most of the facility has adequate automatic sprinkler systems installed. The north wing of the hospital, as well as both the freezer and walk-in cooler in the kitchen, are the areas in need of automatic sprinklers at this time. We are scheduled to begin construction on July 5, 2012. The project will be completed in three phases.

Phase 1 will consists of the front lobby area, patient rooms 1 and 2, medication rooms and half the north wing nurses' station.

Phase 2 will consist of patient rooms 3 through 5, bathrooms and janitors’ closets in the corridor.

Phase 3 will consist of patient rooms 6 through 11, clean and soiled utility rooms, shower and bathrooms. During Phase 3, patient rooms 1 and 2 will be set up for any acute-care needs that should arise during construction.

During construction of each phase, all patients/residents will be relocated to other areas of the facility. Our Social Services Department has been in the process of notifying family and residents who will be affected by the moves. All ventilation will be blocked off during construction and negative air flow will be created using 400 cfm HEPA (high efficiency particulare air) filtration, which will be vented out through the old skylights. The construction areas for each phase will be blocked off using double layers of plastic, with walk-off mats to prevent tracking of contaminants through the facility.

Each phase is expected to take approximately two weeks, allowing six weeks for the entire project. Signs will be posted to inform the public that we are in the construction process and that the main entry points will be changing temporarily. Watch for the main entrance to the hospital to be relocated to the west wing (or long term care) entrance beginning with Phase 1, which starts next Thursday, July 5.

If there are any questions or concerns regarding the Fire Sprinkler Expansion project, please contact OMHC’s Administrator, Gary DelForge, at (509) 982-2611.