By Meredith Gardner
meredith.gardner@theindependent.com

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Independent/Barrett Stinson E & K of Omaha employee Weldon Bruce (left) installs a header in an area that will feature eight new exam rooms in St. Francis Medical Centeršs emergency room. The $670,000 expansion to the emergency room will increase its number of exam rooms from 10 to 18. Independent/Barrett Stinson Sparks fly as Nicholas Smith of E & K of Omaha cuts a piece of metal framing as construction conitunes on a new examination area in St. Francis Medical Centeršs emergency room. Click Thumbnails to View

St. Francis Medical Center is working on a $670,000 expansion to its emergency room, a project that will increase its number of exam rooms from 10 to 18.

The construction is taking place in what was formerly the short-stay surgery area of the hospital and should not disturb patients using the ER during the remodeling process, said Cathy Brockmeier, St. Francis marketing director.

The ER sees more than 20,000 visits per year, Brockmeier said, making it one of the busiest in the area. The current average length of stay is two hours, compared to the national average of more than three hours.

"We hope to be able to move people through a little more quickly," Brockmeier said.

St. Francis is also working on a backfill renovation to the areas of the hospital that were vacated when the patient tower addition opened in October. Those projects are scheduled for completion in October.

Construction on the ER expansion is expected to conclude by the end of July. Brockmeier said she did not know at this time if the expansion would lead to an increase in the number of employees.

Case IH has embarked on the construction of another addition to its Grand Island facility.

It is currently expanding a building south of the main plant by 50,000 feet to make way for a larger paint staging area, said Steve Lee, plant manager.

This new $2.87 million expansion is separate from the 105,000-square-foot addition Case IH built for production of hay tool products, Lee said.

"This is primarily to give us increased capacity for the staging of the painted components," Lee said. It will also accommodate a powder paint system that will be installed this year.

In the future, the expansion could lead to an increase in positions at the plant, Lee said, but in the short-term it will likely reduce some of the extra overtime hours employees are currently working.

The construction of the addition and installation of the new paint system should be complete by August, Lee said.