It took two and a half years but Walton County now has a new hospital near DeFuniak Springs. North Walton Doctors Hospital off US 331 saw its first patients this week.
“This hospital is the first physician majority-owned, managed, and operated hospital in this country since 2005,” Dr. Huy Nguyen, CEO, and physician said.
Walton County first responders say they have transported multiple patients to the new facility before the official grand opening on Sept. 16.
“Every transport that we had with the patients here in the county had to go out of the county,” said Tim Turner, assistant fire chief. “So now that this facility has opened back up, it actually allows us the opportunity to bring them to a facility here in the county. It’s a cost savings to us, it’s a cost savings to the citizens, and I think it’s going to be an overall great thing for the county.”
Hospital staff said it did take longer than expected to open this facility, with it originally being slated to open on January 1.
But Dr. Nguyen guarantees that everything inside is brand-new, and state-of-the-art, and they will not have the same outcome as the previous owners.
“All of our staff this is their craft, this is what they’re qualified to do. This isn’t their side job,” Dr. Nguyen said. “In opening this hospital as local physicians we were aware of the reputational issues of the old facility. So the way we obviously wanted to correct that is, one, make sure you’ve got a great building, make sure it’s equipped with the latest technology. So every piece of equipment in this hospital is brand new.”
Hospital staff said state codes were the biggest hurdle for remodeling the old hospital even needing reinforced windows and a roof capable to withstand 150 mile per hour winds.
Dr. Nguyen said the biggest difference in patient care is the technology.
“Our CT scan is the latest in that technology. It has 128 slice technology which means it takes and reproduces three-dimensional images so quickly that 128 slices per minute that we can actually, for example, image your heart while it’s still beating,” Nguyen said.
The hospital is also a lab center running 100-150 labs per day for regional providers before they officially open their doors.
Staff predict they will run nearly 6,000 tests per day once the hospital gets busy.
The hospital’s grand opening is Wednesday, Sept. 18.
“This hospital is the first physician majority-owned, managed, and operated hospital in this country since 2005,” Dr. Huy Nguyen, CEO, and physician said.
Walton County first responders say they have transported multiple patients to the new facility before the official grand opening on Sept. 16.
“Every transport that we had with the patients here in the county had to go out of the county,” said Tim Turner, assistant fire chief. “So now that this facility has opened back up, it actually allows us the opportunity to bring them to a facility here in the county. It’s a cost savings to us, it’s a cost savings to the citizens, and I think it’s going to be an overall great thing for the county.”
Hospital staff said it did take longer than expected to open this facility, with it originally being slated to open on January 1.
But Dr. Nguyen guarantees that everything inside is brand-new, and state-of-the-art, and they will not have the same outcome as the previous owners.
“All of our staff this is their craft, this is what they’re qualified to do. This isn’t their side job,” Dr. Nguyen said. “In opening this hospital as local physicians we were aware of the reputational issues of the old facility. So the way we obviously wanted to correct that is, one, make sure you’ve got a great building, make sure it’s equipped with the latest technology. So every piece of equipment in this hospital is brand new.”
Hospital staff said state codes were the biggest hurdle for remodeling the old hospital even needing reinforced windows and a roof capable to withstand 150 mile per hour winds.
Dr. Nguyen said the biggest difference in patient care is the technology.
“Our CT scan is the latest in that technology. It has 128 slice technology which means it takes and reproduces three-dimensional images so quickly that 128 slices per minute that we can actually, for example, image your heart while it’s still beating,” Nguyen said.
The hospital is also a lab center running 100-150 labs per day for regional providers before they officially open their doors.
Staff predict they will run nearly 6,000 tests per day once the hospital gets busy.
The hospital’s grand opening is Wednesday, Sept. 18.
