Official groundbreaking ceremony held last Friday
by Dennis Rahm. Story includes audio interview, photo gallery and link to video coverage
It is with a sense of relief for many that the long awaited start of construction on a new hospital for the Lake Chelan Valley has officially started. Board members and staff for Lake Chelan Health gathered with community members last Friday to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new hospital on Apple Blossom Road.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place under sunny skies.
Using gold shovels to turn the soil were hospital Board Chair Mary Murphy, Vice-Chair Jordana LaPorte, Secretary Fred Miller, and board members Mary Signorelli and Jeremy Jaech. Hospital CEO George Rohrich and former Board Chair Phyllis Gleasman also participated.
In the following audio interviews with LakeChelanNow, Commissioner Fred Miller talks about the start of construction being a complicated process, Commissioner Mary Signorelli looks upon the groundbreaking as a healing event and Hospital CEO George Rohrich explains how a bold decision by the Board to close the Sanctuary last August was key to allowing the project to move forward.
“Breaking ground was an uphill battle”
We hope you enjoy a few of the pictures from the event in our LakeChelanNow photo gallery below.
A nice crowd was on hand for the groundbreaking
Dennis Rahm interviews special guest Emmit Aston
The ceremony begins
CEO George Rohrich
Board Chair Mary Murphy
Blessing the ground…
Fred Miller paying tribute to recently retired Commissioner Phyllis Gleasman
Lake Chelan Health leadership prepares to turn some dirt.
Lake Chelan Now carried the entire ceremony live on Facebook. Watch it here.
Bouten Construction is the contractor on the single-story $44.5-millon facility which will take approximately 16-months to complete. You can link to this previous LakeChelanNow story with additional details on the facility itself.
