A moment in time

North Big Horn Hospital district has an eye on the future with expansion of its clinic and physical therapy departments, so it only seems appropriate to plant a time capsule containing information about its past, present and future vision for the hospital and the community in the wall of its new addition, currently under construction. The time capsule, filled with interesting information, photos and other items, was planted in the wall of the new addition on Monday of this week.[caption id="attachment_10890" align="alignright" width="300"] North Big Horn Hospital CEO Rick Schroeder and hospital board member Linda NeVille admire the view of the mountains from the new physical therapy department that is currently under construction.
Patti Carpenter photo[/caption]“We did this so people 25 years from now can see the kinds of things we dealt with, worried about, had excitement about and the optimism we created for the future,” explained NBHH CEO Rick Schroder. “What we’re doing today (making improvements to the hospital and clinic) will make the future better. It contains information about some of the things we worried about and prepared for today in order to make a better tomorrow.”The time capsule was placed in one of the walls of what will soon become the new main entrance to the hospital and the clinic. On the outside, the capsule looks like a simple wooden box, but on the inside it’s a treasure-trove of information about the hospital and the community it serves.Some of the items in the box include photos of the clinic, the hospital, care center and staff and even an aerial photo of the town of Lovell. A copy of the Mustang Guide and year-end editions of the Lovell Chronicle, Time and Newsweek magazines, along with copies of the Lovell and Rocky Mountain High School yearbooks are also placed in the capsule. It also contains questionnaires filled out by community members predicting the future of the hospital and the community. Questions like “Will our vehicles run on gas?” and “Will there be a cure for cancer by 2040?” were included on the questionnaire.A letter from Schroeder, a photo of the construction crew building the new addition and many more items designed to pique the interest of future generations are also sealed in the time capsule.The new addition in itself is a look toward the future needs of the community. It expands the clinic size, essentially doubling increasing the number of patient exam and procedure rooms from eight to 14. The new layout also allows for greater efficiency and could potentially increase available services to patients in the future.It also increases the size of the physical and occupational therapy department, locating it upstairs, with both stair and elevator access for patients. The design includes expansive space for therapists to work with patients and windows with dramatic views of the mountains.The time capsule is planted inside the wall of what will soon become a centralized entrance to both the hospital and clinic, with a floor plan that is more efficiently arranged than the current layout and will allow patients to get from one service to another in fewer steps.

By Patti Carpenter