Rooftops lead the way

With Dayton's population, now at 12,000, projected to grow 22 percent in the next five years, then grow yet more to a projected 74,000 people in 10 years, now was the time to build an acute care hospital to supplement the Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, according to a comprehensive planning process done by the Carson-Tahoe Hospital.

The 30,000-square-foot facility will be attached to Carson Tahoe's current Dayton Professional Building on the corner of Highway 50 and Fortune Drive.

Set to open in 2007, it will offer 15 beds and a 24-hour emergency room, says Cory Jo Allen, RN, the project administrator for the Carson Tahoe Dayton Hospital.

The hospital is not meant to siphon patient care from the Carson-Tahoe Regional Medical Center, which is being built with the highest level of technology available, Allen stressed.Anyone needing an operation goes there.

Instead, the Dayton hospital is designed for an average stay of three days, for patients who may need monitoring.

For patients who want to remain close to family visiting from Dayton.And, of course, to provide emergency room care.

Dayton currently is home to retired seniors and young families, at about an even split, says Allen.

That means the typical patient could be an older person suffering from bronchitis, or a child injured on the soccer field.

As Dayton's population grows, the hospital, designed in a modular fashion, can grow with it, up to 45 beds.

It's too early to predict initial staffing, says Allen, although a core employee count of 50 to 100 is the best guess.

To supplement the core staff, nurses might rotate from the large hospital in Carson City.

In that event, the layout of patient rooms will match those of the main hospital so that nurses remain oriented.

Hershenow & Klippenstein Architects, based in Reno, designed the building.

SMC Construction Company, also based in Reno, is the general contractor.

Don Smit of Project One, based in Carson City, is the project manager.

Allen's company, CJA Organization Development Services, is based in Santa Cruz County, Calif., but Allen will remain a Nevada resident

until the project is completed.