HUMBOLDT — The Humboldt District Hospital Foundation (HDHF) will be replacing 20 existing patient beds at the hospital over the coming weeks with new ones in the total amount of $176,000.
The existing patient beds were purchased by the HDHF from 2005 to 2008. Those that still have lifetime use will be reused in facilities throughout the Humboldt district including Lanigan, which has spoken for five; and Watrous, which will be taking one.
According to Lorrie Bunko, HDHF’s executive director, there are many beds that will not be able to be used and will be taken out of commission.
“The inpatients are actually full right now so they’re going to have to be strategic on how they do the changeover but they have a plan in place for that,” Bunko said.
“Patient beds are number one priority with acute care and they’re very much needed, so this was very important to us.”
When the request for the first set of ten beds was submitted to the HDHF, the cost per bed was considerably lower as special pricing was given for a limited time. The savings was $4,000 per bed for a total of $80,000.
With the recent $150,000 donation from the Humboldt Good Neighbour Store and knowing that another ten beds were needed next year, Aaron Behiel, Foundation’s board chair, said it didn’t take much discussion for the board to agree to the opportunity.
“We felt that the savings potential was too much to not take advantage of the opportunity,” Behiel said. “Every dollar we can save allows us to purchase that much more equipment and keeps us moving towards our goals.”
