Mary Lanning Healthcare cuts ribbon on expansion

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Mary Lanning Healthcare held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its Medical Office Building on Tuesday. There are nine specialty services moving into the building, all are Mary Lanning affiliates, including Hastings pulmonary, orthopedic, family care, and the Bryan College of Health Sciences.

This will be the first time Hastings has a school of nursing since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Operating Officer Mark Callahan said this will make caring for patients easier. Callahan said it’ll prevent patients from having to drive around town for appointments. He said for some that can be an inconvenience. Patients will be able to get everything from blood work to exams all in one location and on the same day.

Callahan said this will greatly benefit those who come visit a specialist.

“With some of our physicians especially orthopedics, when we have our orthopedic surgeons over here, instead of driving across town if they’re needed they just have a quick walk over to the hospital,” Callahan said. “Check their patients, do their surgeries and come back and see patients in the clinics.”

Callahan said this will provide convenience for patients, staff, and physicians. Bryan College of Health Sciences have been in the building holding class since August. Hastings Family Care will move in Oct. 9, followed by Pulmonary at the end of October, and Orthopedics in December. With Pulmonary already being on MLH campus, they will convert their old location into a pharmacy.

Callahan said having an on-campus nursing program like Bryan once served as a feeder program for Mary Lanning. The nursing shortage experienced across the country has forced them to use traveling nurses. They hope adding a nursing program can will a need.

“Now bringing Bryan back on campus with our school of nursing, they are going to be having, it’s a four year program, and they’re going to have around 30 students in each class, said Callahan. “So that’s going to be 30 nurses in the area that we have potential of recruiting and retaining here in the Hastings area.”

Callahan said having a nursing school in the area also allows private practices to recruit nursing students as well. He said having 30 new nursing students each semester is a resource he can’t put a value on. Dean of undergraduate nursing, Theresa De La Hoyde said there are benefits to nursing students being connected to a medical center.

“That hands-on experience; and so the students are actually getting to take care of patients and learning right along side the facility as well as the staff that are working directly with the patients,” said De La Hoyde.

De La Hoyde said although it’s an additional recruiting tool, it’s about a workforce initiative because Nebraska is in need of nurses. This project also gave an economic boost to Hastings during the pandemic.

“There was not a lot of building going on and so when we took on this big project during that time, you know we were able to you know give some business to local contractors and really just focus in on you know what can we do for Hastings,” said Callahan.

Callahan said he’s overjoyed by the finished product, and it’s beyond what he could have imagined.

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