Co-manager of Radiology Tobey Mitchell explains some of the medical scanning equipment to Donna Watkins of Carp Lake during the Mackinac Straits Health System and Tribal Health Clinic open house Friday, April 9. Excitement radiated through the new North State Street medical facility last week as staff and contractors prepared for opening day of the hospital Friday, April 16, and of the tribal health center Monday, April 19. The new health facility in St. Ignace is poised to set a national example of how a unique partnership between the hospital and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians can benefit the entire community.

Shortly before 8 a.m. Friday, the first emergency room patient registered at the emergency desk just as patients transferring from the old Burdette Street hospital began arriving at the new facility by ambulance. Eight patients were admitted to rooms on the second floor by the end of the first day.

Right, top: Wesley Smith carefully takes a cart filled with boxes of supplies into the new hospital in St. Ignace Wednesday, April 14. He is with Mayflower Movers in Mount Pleasant, which is assisting Denoyer Brothers Moving of Traverse City. Denoyer is coordinating the transport of materials, equipment, and other items from the Burdette Street building to the new facility on North State Street in St. Ignace. The company used three large semitrucks and a smaller truck during the two-day move. John Duncan of Cedarville said it was an honor to be the first patient to be admitted to the hospital. While recovering, he will take advantage of the hospital's rehabilitation department and the new physical therapy pool.

“No one wants to be in the hospital, but if you have to be, this is a nice one,” said his wife, Carol Duncan, who accompanied him.

“Yes,” said Mr. Duncan. “It is nice.”

Right, middle: Carefully moving the panoramic X-ray unit down the hallway to its new home in the tribal dental department are (from left) Dr. Bruce Anderson, computer technician Dan McDermott, and Dr. Moody Wasif. Formerly at the Lambert Center, the unit was to be put in use at the new Sault Tribal Health Clinic Monday, April 19. Mr. Duncan is a former principal at Cedarville High School, where the gymnasium carries his name.

Another early arriving patient, also transferred from the old facility, was Larry Rubin of St. Ignace. Mr. Rubin is a former hospital board chairman, one of the longest serving hospital board members, and served as the first executive secretary of the Mackinac Bridge when it was built.

“The bridge was the miracle of the Midwest,” said Mr. Rubin while getting settled into his new hospital room. “This is the medical miracle of the Midwest. It isn't often a hospital with all of the appointments and all of the attributes that this hospital has opens, especially in a community the size of St. Ignace. If I have to be hospi- talized, I'm proud to be here.”

Wanetah Teike of Levering enjoys one of the new massaging dialysis chairs at the Mackinac Straits Health System and Tribal Health Clinic open house in St. Ignace Friday, April 9. The new building offers six dialysis chairs, compared to the three in the old building. About 1,500 people toured the new facility that day, most of them from Mackinac County. Other visitors hailed from Mackinaw City and Petoskey, according to hospital administrators. The cooperation among the tribe, hospital, and donors to create the facility was “magnificent,” said Mr. Rubin.

For the next two weeks, construction crews will remain at the hospital to finish details of the project before the white work trailer that sits in the parking lot is packed and taken away.

At right: Hospital medical technologists Megan Winberg (left) and Paula Anderson load reagents used in testing into the laboratory refrigerator Wednesday, April 14. “Crews are working on a punch list,” said Charlie Livernois, who works out of the temporary trailer and is the senior project superintendent of Skanska, the construction management company overseeing the project. Construction of the hospital has been a great job and working in St. Ignace has been enjoyable, said Mr. Livernois.

As Mr. Livernois fielded questions from crew members Wednesday, April 14, the first of two major moving days was underway. A small portion of the move was reserved for Friday.

Equipment and boxes filled with supplies from the Burdette Street hospital began arriving in four moving vans Wednesday. As paint was touched up, floors mopped, and sinks cleaned, dollies stacked with boxes were moved down the hallways. Movers were directed by staff members representing each department. By the end of the move Friday, the vans had made an estimated 15 trips between the old and new facilities.

One of Mackinac Straits Health System's first patients, Larry Rubin of St. Ignace settles into his hospital room with assistance from registered nurse Leigh Anne Leveille early Friday morning, April 16. The north entrance to the hospital, named in honor of his service to the hospital, will be designated Lawrence A. Rubin Drive. Mr. Rubin served on the hospital board for 27 years, including filling the role of chairman. He was on the board from 1972 to 1989 and from 1992 to 2002. Project manager for the move was Colleen Corp of Worksquared of Grand Rapids. The company provided some of the furniture for the new facility and has coordinated similar moves, including at the Zeeland Hospital.

Transferred from the Burdette Street hospital, John Duncan of Cedarville, accompanied by his wife, Carol, is the first patient admitted to the new North State Street hospital in St. Ignace at 8 a.m. Friday, April 16. Emergency medical technician (EMT) Isaac Harrigan (left) and EMT and paramedic Dave Davis bring Mr. Duncan to his new room after he was transported by ambulance. Mr. Duncan, a former Cedarville High School principal and Mackinac County road commissioner, had previously been a patient in Petoskey. He is a Detroit Tigers baseball fan and for the trip to the new hospital, he wears a Tigers baseball cap given to him by his daughter, Tami Duncan. Ms. Duncan works at the facility as a community health nurse for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The company has been working with the St. Ignace hospital since October, planning equipment moves to ensure items are operational for patients in at least one of the buildings as the move progressed.

“I've had a lot of phone calls asking, 'When can I come pick out my glasses?'” said Tribal paraoptometric technician Jackie Berden (right). Many people attending the open house were impressed with the new department, she said. Joined by doctors Penny Vizina and Jeff Lozen Wednesday, April 14, she unpacked boxes at the new facility Wednesday, April 14. The department began seeing patients in the new North State Street office Monday, April 19. A color coding system labeled boxes based on the day they were to be loaded onto moving vans and driven the approximate five miles through downtown St. Ignace to the new hospital site.

The physical move was handled by Denoyer Brothers Moving of Traverse City.

The move was organized into three phases, said Mrs. Corp, least critical items or departments, most departments and supplies or portions of departments, and most critical departments, including the emergency department and acute care patients.

In hospital hallways and rooms last week, housekeeping staff including Rose Miftaraj could be found cleaning in preparation for the opening of the new hospital and the arrival of patients. Mackinac Straits Health System began serving the community Friday, April 16, and the Sault Tribal Health Clinic and Human Services began service Monday, April 19. “It's been enjoyable to work with everyone here,” she said. “It's a great group of people.”

With move logistics organized, Tamie Hartwig, chief planning and support services officer with the hospital, was busy handling last minute details, from coordinating the changing of hospital signs, getting damaged and incorrect signs inside the new hospital replaced, working with suppliers, finding misplaced trash baskets, to making sure all departments had telephone directories. Her cell phone rang nonstop, but she was quick to say everyone worked hard to make the move as seamless as possible.

“I feel that I don't have it any harder than anyone else, at all,” she said. “My job is just a little bit more spread out.”

At 8 a.m., as the North State Street hospital opened its doors and patients began to arrive, the relocation of departments, operations, and the jobs of more than 250 medical care workers was complete.

Just one week earlier, Friday, April 9, volunteers were assisting about 1,500 area residents who got their first glimpse of the new facility the during an open house. Throughout the day, 102 comment cards were completed by visitors, said hospital CEO Rod Nelson.

“All of the comments were positive, which was kind of a relief,” said Mr. Nelson. “It means we did it right. You are always concerned that you may have missed something and you didn't do something correctly. We still have to tweak, but for the most part, everybody thought it was really a professional facility.”

Drives To Honor

Hospital Supporters

The roads leading to the new medical facility have been named, although the signs have not arrived, said Mr. Nelson. The main entranceway will be the Prentiss M. Brown, Jr. Drive.

“If it had not been for Moie,” said Mr. Nelson referring to Mr. Brown, “we wouldn't have made it to this point. He and First National Bank came through during very difficult financial times.”

The front circle drive will be named the Peter J. Della-Moretta Circle. The late Mr. Della-Moretta was among those responsible for establishing the first St. Ignace hospital, said Mr. Nelson.

Other roadways will be named after the long-serving hospital board chairs. The road on the north side of the campus will be named Lawrence A. Rubin Drive. The ambulance entry from Alpine Street will be Ronald R. Mitchell Drive.

As the medical campus grows, more drives will be named in the future, said Mr. Nelson.