Grantsburg Hospital Addition

By Uncle Hans


.............another weekend of crappy weather, punctuated by an over-night snow---and it's nearly May!! I am so tired of winter and"spring" that I am blogging another ho-hum event: the dedication of a new hospital facility. It's no typo. Of the six hospitals I work at in the region, two have just completed new additions, one is in an 24 month renovation and one breaks ground this spring for a whole new hospital. Spooner would be building as well, but we are land-locked and "negotiating" with our neighbors, the DNR (optimistically speaking) for a small slice of land that would let our project go forward. I retire in a few years, so.........

This is today's project, Grantsburg, as of last summer. It rose out of the center of a golf course, raising no small complaint from the golfers and tree-huggers. The hospital won the dispute because, well, the hospital OWNS the golf course.

...........Here is the finished building, minus landscaping and decent weather. It is a new Emergency Room, records department and attached clinic. You can just barely see the old hospital from this angle, which is behind it........

.......Wendy standing in the doorway between the ambulance garage and the ER......

....the new ER, which is 4X the old and 2X what is needed.............

........the trauma room. Who cares? I hate trauma anyway. Are they expecting a 747 crash? It is nice though........

............The lobby of the new clinic........

............the clinic lobby has this neat sandbox under glass with magnets to move the toys inside. Wendy registered for a free splenectomy so she could play with this baby for a while........

..........someone carved a melon into this swan in a futile attempt to get Wisconsin people to eat healthy fruits and veggies. It didn't work. Not a piece of those fruits and veggies moved until the meat balls and drummies were gone........

........In a realistic twist, the track lighting fixtures in the lobby looked suspiciously like mosquitoes.......

.........this is the building they were replacing. It was not attached, meaning we all had to brave 20 degree weather to run across the street to get from hospital to clinic. It is not that old, but you could easily fit this whole building into the lobby of the new facility and still have enough room for the mosquitoes. Note the snowflakes. F**king beautiful?.........

.........Sadly, we did not proceed to the bar after the ceremony to dance on a pole like last week. The Grantsburg staff is more sedate (or sedated?). The next night, however, we went to the Spring party for a national motorcycle club (ABATE) whose sole goal is the freedom from helmet laws. We don't belong, but always attend because we are bikers and brain damaged people can be so entertaining.

In this late-night picture, which is not digitally enhanced but may be under the influence, Wendy appears to have grown some beautiful hair. Actually, she is playing with the hair of the seemingly detached woman next to her. Her hair is lush and wavy and goes to the floor when she lets it down. Needless to say, it is not compatible with a helmet....

Uncle Hans