STEVEN FRIEDERICH | THE DAILY WORLD
Chief Nursing Officer Brenda West finishes pushing hospital beds into the parking lot of Mark Reed Hospital in McCleary as a moving crew pulls up and starts to fill up one of many trucks that left Sunday afternoon as the hospital officially closed down. The new hospital in Elma, known as Summit Pacific Medical Center, is located at 600 East Main Street in Elma. Mark Reed Healthcare Clinic, located at the old hospital, will remain open and operating under new business hours, Tuesday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
STEVEN FRIEDERICH | THE DAILY WORLD
Radiology director Joy Iversen unscrews a piece of medical equipment as X-ray assistant Sylvia James holds on to it to ensure it doesn’t fall. Nurses and technicians helped box up all of the old gear at Mark Reed Hospital in McCleary on Sunday.
McCLEARY — Staff at Mark Reed Hospital in McCleary say the closure process went exceptionally well, with the hospital closing its doors at about 3 p.m. on Sunday.
At about noon, the hospital transferred two of its last patients to its new facilities, known as Summit Pacific Medical Center, located at 600 East Main Street in Elma. Its last patient, a victim of a chainsaw accident who cut his hand, was treated and released at just after 1 p.m.
On Friday, the state Department of Transportation took down most of the hospital signs on Highway 8 outside of McCleary. There’s still a tiny sign on top of the freeway exit sign noting that gas, food and a hospital are located at the next exit. Inside McCleary, hospital staff boarded up the old sign, leaving just a reminder that the hospital’s clinic remains on the campus. The state DOT planned to install new signs along the highway at the Elma freeway exit today.
The Mark Reed Healthcare Clinic will remain open and operating under new business hours, Tuesday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The new medical center will host a 24/7 Emergency Department, a critical access hospital that is a level II cardiac center, a level III stroke center, and level V trauma care, an expanded Diagnostic Imaging Department and Laboratory. Summit Pacific Medical Center will also house Summit Pacific Healthcare Clinic which will be the hospital district’s third primary care clinic. The hospital also owns a clinic in Elma.
