LOCKNEY – Roof repairs are not something organizations generally look forward to, but thanks to a grant received by W.J. Mangold Memorial Hospital, the Lockney General Hospital board is a little more at ease on ordering those repairs.
The money, a Capital Improvement Grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Health, will cover $75,000 toward a new shingled roof over the administrative offices at the hospital as well as Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) roofing on a third of the facility.
The total cost of the project quoted to the hospital by All Star Roofing of Lubbock is just over $137,000, leaving a $62,000 balance for the board. “This is the biggest facility need we have had since I arrived here,” Hospital CEO Vince DiFranco told the board.
The board unanimously approved the project, and also heard from DiFranco on other grant updates, including roughly $70,000 for new hospital flooring to be installed by King Carpet of Plainview through a Health & Human Services Rural Health COVID Mitigation and Testing grant. Currently the hospital is on track to have the floor work completed next month.
The board and staff also discussed possible changes to the hospital’s COVID masking policy, and briefly discussed new plans currently being implemented at Lubbock’s University Medical Center using a ‘traffic light’ scenario. No decision was made during the meeting.
The Lockney General Hospital board will hold their next meeting on September 28.
