Staff writer
Marion County Hospital District No. 1 Board of Directors approved the purchase of a therapy pool and a sterilizer Monday at a special meeting.
The therapy pool will be a new addition to the physical therapy department at St. Luke Hospital, Marion, after construction is completed in a year.
The 14-by-eight-foot warm water pool — heated to 94 degrees — has two separate depths of four and 5 1/2 feet. St. Luke Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Armstrong recommended a bid from Hydroworks of Kenilworth, N.J., at $56,890, $10 under the budgeted amount for the purchase.
The new sterilizer will replace a steam-powered machine in the operating room. The new boiler in the hospital will not have steam and it was not cost effective to retrofit the rest of the surgical supplies, Armstrong said.
The machine is new but not state-of-the-art.
“A flash sterilizer sterilizes in half the time but costs twice as much,” Armstrong said. “Time is not as critical to us.”
The board accepted a bid from Steris of Mentor, Ohio, for $30,304. Armstrong had budgeted $28,500 for the purchase.