SMC will be bright, shiny gem in night sky of stars
By LEE COLEMAN
For every hour of thought provoking planning and every hour of pain staking meeting upon meeting, the decision to replace Sakakawea Medical Center with a new facility didn’t occur by pure happenstance.
What started out as a renovation and remodeling venture slowly started turning into something entirely different. It was impossible to ignore the good sense that a new facility made.
And so it was that the SMC Board of Directors, hospital officials and leaders of the Hazen community decided a new facility was the right way to go.
To a person, this decision was made not only because it was the right thing to do but because it was the best thing to do for the community, both now and in the future.
Last Thursday, SMC officials held the first public meeting on the project in a community meeting designed to offer an overview of the plans on the drawing board.
“It has been quite a journey we’ve been on,” said SMC Board President Christie Obenauer. “I feel like we have taken all the right steps along the way. When you start viewing the estimate on a construction project [remodel], you sometimes do an about face because it is going to be more expensive than we originally anticipated and it should cause pause for reevaluation.
