News
MRH&C Celebrates Completion of Major Expansion and Renovation Project
Posted 9/15/26 (Tue)
The sun was shining on a beautiful fall morning as colorful mums adorned the entrance of the new Emergency Department. The stage was set, the chairs were in place and the cake was waiting to be served. Even Mother Nature seemed ready to help us celebrate.
After nearly nine years of planning, construction and change, September 10 was a momentous day at Mobridge Regional Hospital & Clinics as we gathered with employees, community members, project partners and friends to cut the ribbon on our completed expansion and renovation project.
For MRH&C, the day represented much more than the completion of a building project. It was the latest chapter in the history of growth that began when Mobridge Community Hospital opened its doors in July 1959. As the healthcare needs of our region changed, the hospital grew with them, with additions and renovations completed in 1976, 1977, 1991, 1998 and 2014.
Photo: Mobridge Community Hospital, circa 1960. The hospital opened its doors in July 1959, beginning more than six decades of growth and service to the region.
By 2017, much of the hospital’s core infrastructure was approaching 60 years old, and leadership began looking beyond individual renovations toward a more comprehensive plan for the future. That December, about 40 members of MRH&C’s Board, Medical Staff and leadership team gathered to imagine what healthcare could look like if the facility was designed around the people providing care and the patients receiving it.
Photo: Heather Olson, PA, participates in a December 2017 planning meeting as MRH&C leaders, Medical Staff and Board members began envisioning the future of the hospital campus.
The resulting plan focused on modernizing aging infrastructure, improving how departments work together and creating opportunities to expand healthcare services for the rural communities MRH&C serves.
“Nearly nine years ago, we asked ourselves what was possible. Today, we’re standing in the answer,” MRH&C CEO John Ayoub told those gathered for the ceremony.
The approximately $50 million project constructed or renovated approximately 54,000 square feet of the hospital and represents one of the largest transformations of the MRH&C campus in its history. Major improvements included a new inpatient and obstetrics wing, Emergency Department and ambulance garage, Infusion Center and inpatient Pharmacy, along with improvements to Surgery, Radiology, Dietary, clinic and specialty clinic spaces, conference and dining areas, and critical mechanical, electrical and other infrastructure throughout the facility.
Photo: MRH&C’s new patient wing under construction as the hospital campus began its transformation.
Years of carefully phased construction allowed MRH&C to remain operational and continue caring for patients throughout the project. Employees and Medical Staff adapted through construction detours, changing workspaces, weather challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, inflation and seemingly endless change.
“Our staff stuck the landing,” Ayoub said. “Our line staff, Medical Staff, department leaders, and entire team adapted, persevered, and continued caring for people every single day.”
USDA Rural Development provided more than $41 million in financing for the project. South Dakota State Director Lorraine Polak joined MRH&C for the celebration and spoke about the importance of healthcare to rural communities.
“It is hard to quantify the impact of our rural healthcare systems, but they are vital to our communities; both in the services they provide and the economic impact,” Polak said. “Our mission at Rural Development is to serve our rural communities and quality healthcare is an essential service allowing our communities to thrive and prosper.”
U.S. Senator John Thune also recognized the completion of the project and its importance to healthcare in the region.
“The dedicated professionals at Mobridge Regional Hospital work hard to deliver lifesaving care to their community,” said Thune. “This new expansion will go a long way toward increasing services and ensuring more patients can access the care they need.”
A project of this magnitude required tremendous partnership. MRH&C is grateful to USDA Rural Development, its Board of Trustees, Davis Partnership Architects, Kraus-Anderson, financial and community partners, contractors and subcontractors, employees, physicians and Medical Staff, and the many others who contributed their expertise, patience and commitment throughout the project.
Photo: MRHC Foundation Board members and hospital administration celebrate the final payment of the Healthy Futures Capital Campaign, which raised $1.755 million over three years to support MRH&C’s expansion and renovation project.
The community also played an important role. When escalating construction costs made an already ambitious project even more challenging, the MRHC Foundation launched its Healthy Futures Capital Campaign. Individuals, families, businesses, employees and organizations stepped forward to invest $1.755 million in the future of healthcare in the region.
“When something truly matters, people here show up,” Ayoub said. “Together, you didn’t simply support a capital campaign. You invested in the future of healthcare in this community.”
The completed project provides MRH&C with more than updated facilities. It creates opportunities to recruit and retain healthcare professionals, expand specialty and treatment options, improve the patient experience and provide more advanced care locally.
Photo: From construction to celebration-MRH&C’s new Emergency Department entrance takes shape and, once completed, serves as the backdrop for the Grand Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on September 10, 2026.
During his remarks, Ayoub reminded those gathered that the true measure of the project will not be the building itself, but what happens inside it.
“The building is not the accomplishment. The building is a tool. The accomplishment is what happens inside it.”
He pointed to the babies safely delivered, lives saved in the Emergency Department, cancer patients receiving treatment close to home, surgeries restoring health, ambulance crews answering calls and the hundreds of quiet acts of competence, compassion and service performed by the MRH&C team every day.
MRH&C would like to thank everyone who joined us September 10 to celebrate this milestone, as well as the many people whose work, patience, generosity and support helped bring the project from an idea in 2017 to the facility serving our region today.
For more than 67 years, MRH&C has continued to grow and adapt while remaining committed to the purpose that brought Mobridge Regional Hospital into existence in 1959: providing high-quality healthcare close to home.
Photo: MRH&C Board President Bill Bachmeier cuts the ribbon outside the new Emergency Department entrance, joined by USDA Rural Development State Director Lorraine Polak, CEO John Ayoub, Medical Staff and community members on September 10, 2026.
Today, we celebrate the completion of another important chapter in that history — and the beginning of what comes next.
“With this facility, this community behind us, and this extraordinary team inside it, I cannot wait to see what we do next,” Ayoub said. “Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for investing in us. And most importantly, thank you for trusting us to care for you, your families, and this community.”