It's been re-certified by the state to offer surgical services after 13 years without it. That's a relief to patients like Sandy Beach.
"We are a minimum of 45 minutes away from Hanford, over an hour from Fresno so this is wonderful that we have this here."
Inside one of the renovated operating rooms, O.R. manager Mike Enquist showed off upgraded equipment that can rival any big city facility.
Including laparoscopic technology that enables doctors to use smaller incisions and a camera feed to speed up operating time and a patient's recovery time.
Laparoscopic equipment is one of the most vital surgical tools in an OR. Coalinga Regional Hospital now has a state of the art machine that allows doctors to see their work in progress. It's an asset at the hospital that attracts both doctors and patients.
"The old gall bladders, they'd take them out you'd be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days. Now, they can go home that night or the next morning," said Mike Enquist, OR Manager.
In radiology the new, 64 slice CT scanner allows the techs to take 3D images of the heart arteries and other areas of the body, another hospital update that keeps patients in town for a service they used to have to travel for miles, to get.
"We feel by having this, we are comparative with all the other facilities around us and that we are able to offer the best that the Valley has to offer," said Lori Bryan, Director of Patient Services.
Hospital CEO Sharon Spurgeon is proud to show off the improvements at the hospital, both inside and out to make patients feel at home. Even the photographs are pictures of the local community.
She says $8 million was raised through bond refinancing and revenues to not only upgrade equipment, hire physicians and staff but also over an 18 month renovation, turn the once, dark, sterile environment into a more pleasant place to be treated and to recover.
"The quality of health care that was provided in their hometown was just as significant to them as having them go to another city. That has always been our direction is focusing on the community," said Sharon A. Spurgeon, CEO, Coalinga Regional M.C.
