Morrison hospital to break ground on $14 million two-story addition

MORRISON — Morrison Community Hospital will hold a groundbreaking event for its $14 million two-story addition on the hospital’s south side at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5.

The addition is meant to address the hospital’s increasing patient volume, which Morrison Community Hospital CEO Pam Pfister said has doubled since in 2019. This project will be the hospital’s third expansion since then.

Each floor of the addition will be about 11,000 square feet, Pfister said. The first floor will be used for primary and urgent care services; featuring 22 exam rooms, three care team workstations and one procedure room. The second-floor addition will connect with the hospital’s Medical-Surgical unit and remain open for future needs.

The project is being paid for using existing cash reserves and work is expected to be completed in January 2026, Pfister said.

The first expansion, which was completed 2022, included a new emergency room, eight additional beds in the medical-surgical area, two new operating rooms, upgrades to the radiology department, a new lab, a sterile processing department and additional provider offices in the existing clinic space.

That project cost $23 million and was paid for using a $20 million, 35-year U.S. Department of Agriculture loan with a 2.125% interest rate.

The hospital’s second project – a third operating room – was completed in October 2023, cost $3.3 million and was paid for with cash reserves.

The newest addition is expected to bring about 10 full-time positions to the hospital, including the addition of Morrison native, Dr. Trever Troutman, who will complete his residency in June 2025, Pfister said.

Morrison Community Hospital derives its revenue from its services, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, third-party payers, the self-insured, and the hospital taxing district, which includes townships in and around Morrison, as well as the nearby communities of Lyndon and Fenton.

The hospital, located at 303 N. Jackson St., provides emergency services; radiology, pharmacy, and lab services; medical and surgical inpatient services; rural health clinics for primary and urgent care; specialty physician services in rheumatology, psychiatry, podiatry, endocrinology, otolaryngology, gastroenterology, cardiology, gynecology, pulmonology, urology, dermatology, and neurology; inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation; a diabetics program; a skin care clinic and a wound care program.