Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Contributed Photo The sun rises on the first morning of the first day of operation Sunday for ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano on County Road B in Shawano.
Contributed Photo Staff pack up the emergency department at Shawano Medical Center on Saturday. The department completed the move, and the new site was open for patients at 6:30 a.m. Sunday.
More than a year’s worth of planning went into a monumental five-day effort to move equipment, patients and staff from the former Shawano Medical Center on Bartlett Street into its new home on County Road B.
“Everything went as planned,” said Penny Bolck, director of nursing. “There were no surprises.”
The move began Thursday, the day after the public got its first view of the inside of the new ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano.
By Sunday, patients were ready to be relocated.
Each of the three patients were brought over by Shawano Ambulance Service, along with a nurse, based on the priority of their conditions.
By Monday the new hospital was admitting new patients, out-patient services and specialty services were up and running, and visitor traffic was increasing, according to Bolck.
“The emergency room has been steady,” she said. “Patient care has been business as usual.”
For staff, however, there is bound to be a period of adjustment, Bolck said, as they get acclimated to the new surroundings.
That, too, has been part of the planning process, with staff provided with maps, designated pathways and training in their new surroundings.
Even so, staff may still be looking for “the shortest route between A and B,” she said.
Staff held a “good-bye ceremony” as they closed the doors of the old facility Monday.
Leaving their home of so many years in Shawano has brought a lot of mixed emotions, Bolck said.
“It was a great place to be,” she said, “but there was so much excitement that helped the transition and made letting go a little easier.”