Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital celebrated the completion of its $3.1 million renovation project Dec. 9 after several months of construction.

The new physicians building is completed and doctors have been operating from the new location for several days. The new emergency room facilities also are completed and hospital officials are working on moving emergency services into the facilities by Dec. 18.

Hospital Administrator Nancy Kinkler said the move has to be slow because the hospital still needs to provide emergency care during the transition period.

"The doctors are in, the construction is complete, and we’ll be seeing patients in the new emergency department Dec. 18," she said.

Residents seeking emergency care before or after that date will arrive at the same general location they always have, Kinkler said. Many of the changes to the emergency room are internal and are designed to not cause residents confusion when seeking care during an emergency situation.

"It’s in the same area (and) it’s clearly marked back there," Kinkler said.

Inside the old physicians building, Kaiser Home Health has already set up in its new home and the medical specialty clinic is expected to move in by January.

The hospital’s new sign at the new entrance is expected to be hooked up this week, also.

Kinkler said the construction project was a great achievement and will provide better service to the residents of Karnes County.

"We are keeping up with the amount of business that we have and we are keeping up with technology and we are here to meet the needs of the people," she said.

With the added space after everyone gets settled in, the hospital also will have more opportunities to bring in specialists, according to Kinkler.

Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital applied for a USDA rural development grant back in 2004 and received the $3.1 million low-interest loan for hospital improvement Nov. last year.

In addition to the loan, the hospital also put $225,000 of its savings toward the project.