Bluffton Hospital has made preparations to move forward with its planned facility expansion and renovation project.

Bluffton Hospital has chosen Charles Construction Services of Findlay as the general contractor for the project.

The project will create new, much needed space for Bluffton Hospital's emergency and surgery departments, as well as add professional/medical office space.

o The current Emergency Department was built in 1988 to accommodate 3,600 patients each year. In 2009, the ER cared for more than 5,500 patients.
o The current Surgery Department was built in 1988 to accommodate 750 patients each year. In 2009, more than 2,000 surgeries took place.
o The Bluffton community has a shortage of professional office space (especially for physicians' offices) and cannot accommodate the growing number of medical specialties in the village.

The expansion/renovation will create:

o An Emergency Department that can care for more than 7,000 patients per year, focusing on more private treatment areas;
o An expanded Surgery Department to accommodate more than 2,500 surgeries per year;
o A new emergency and surgery registration and support area to accommodate patient identification and privacy; and
o Professional/medical office space.

More than $916,000 has been donated by Bluffton Hospital associates, physicians and community members toward the $1 million fundraising goal set by the Blanchard Valley Health Foundation.

The Isabelle West Family pledged the lead gift to the project in honor of Mrs. West and her late husband, James F. West, and their longstanding commitment to Bluffton Hospital and the community.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 8, at 1:30 p.m. on the Bluffton Hospital campus. The event is open to the public.

Bluffton Hospital is a 2009 Press Ganey Summit Award-winning hospital, one of only 32 hospitals in the United States to receive the national award for sustaining the highest level of customer satisfaction for three or more consecutive years.

Bluffton Hospital is a division of Blanchard Valley Health System, which provides a total continuum of care to more than 100,000 households in an eight-county area. The BVHS mission is to provide a broad continuum of exceptional health-related services in Northwest Ohio.