Public impressed with hospital expansion

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief.LUDINGTON — The nearly $15 million expansion and renovation at Memorial Medical Center received many accolades from the public this afternoon. An open house gave the public its first glance inside the 41,260 square foot project. Of that, almost 38,000 square feet is a new emergency department, the center point of the project.

“It’s like you’re in another town,” Sharon Templar of Amber Township said. “This is pretty nice, just wonderful.”

“It’s very impressive,” said Tom Sheppardson of Scottville. “It was a good place before and it’s even better now. I’ve seen lots of emergency rooms and this one is impressive.”

“It’s been a pleasure to have the public be here and see this new facility,” said Tim Heinrich, senior vice president. “We’ve heard many compliments from the community today.”

Patricia Ezdebski, director of marketing, said though the open house didn’t start until 4 p.m., people were arriving at 3:30 p.m.

“This looks like a huge improvement,” Margaret Wrasse of Ludington said while touring the emergency department. “The private rooms are a major improvement. The decor is very attractive throughout the addition. You can tell that this facility is going to be very efficient.”

“This is just gorgeous,” said Chrissie Hall of Hamlin Township. “It’s amazing. It was good before and it will be even better now.”

See Tuesday’s story on the expansion project here: