Plan for 911 Center Move to HSB on MDH
Campus 2 Goes Forward
After a two-month 'pause,' the new 9-1-1 Center move to the basement of Health Services Building Two (HSB2) on the McDonough District Hospital campus will now move forward, Sheriff Nick Petitgout and chair of the 911 and Emergency Telephone Systems Board (ETSB), told the MDH Board of Directors at a special meeting Thursday evening.
While the Board was meeting to discuss going ahead with a separation agreement with outgoing CEO/President Bill Murdock, during the public comment portion of the meeting, Petitgout, along with County Board Chair Eric Blakeley and Fire Chief Dan Meyer, discussed the plans for the new center relocating to the MDH campus.
At the April meeting of the full County Board, Chair Blakeley announced that the county's 911 and Communications Board, of which Blakeley is a member, has placed a 60-day hold on the move to the MDH campus due to the 'instability' at the hospital.
'At this time, we don't want to sink $3 million into a project that could possibly be a headache down the road. We just want to see a little more stability at the hospital and let the dust settle a bit,' Blakeley said following that meeting.
'We're not canceling the project; we're just putting it on hold to reevaluate if the MDH campus is the right location for this. We've outgrown the current center and we need a larger facility.'
At the May 28 MDH Board meeting, Petitgout explained that while it was nothing against MDH or the Board, because of the county's $1.2 million investment, which will be paid from the ETSB 911 budget, and with the recent goings-on at the hospital, the county and the 911 Board, wanted to revise the lease agreement to ensure the 911 Center's place at MDH.
'With the uncertainties happening, we need to wait a bit to ensure the money we've been saving diligently for this for several years is going to be able to be used for a center that will be on this campus for years to come,' Petitgout explained.
There will be a 30-40-year lease put into place for the regional 911 Center, which will serve McDonough, Fulton and Schuyler counties, with the county paying $61,200 per year to the hospital. According to Blakeley, there are small 'escalators' built into the lease for future years, to cover inflation costs and concerns.
'We intend to move forward with the procurement process and put this out to bid following the next County Board meeting,' Petitgout told the MDH Board Thursday evening.
'Then work will begin: generators, drywall, consoles, furniture, video walls and more.'
Petitgout shared that there will be video feeds from cameras throughout the town straight into the 911 Center so that the new facility will be the 'regional hub for information.'
'This is the right place for this, and we're appreciative of the partnership,' he added. 'And having a presence on your campus will allow for greater security for the hospital as well. Plus, this gives our dispatchers the space they need and they deserve.'
