North Central Kansas Medical Center

North Central Kansas Medical Center (NCKMC) is a new critical access hospital in Concordia, Kansas. It replaced an outdated 1950s building that no longer met the community’s healthcare needs. After a comprehensive master planning and successful funding process, the project moved quickly through design and construction. The modern replacement hospital features inpatient beds, a surgical suite, an emergency department, lab imaging services, and an MRI suite. The outpatient clinic provides walk-in services, space for primary care. Expanded physical and occupational therapy services include a new hydro-therapy pool.

To provide these services, NCKMC was able to fund a significant portion of the project through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and loans, with the community supporting the project through material and monetary contributions.

As a replacement facility for a long-standing health community center in Concordia and Cloud County, the design needed to have several qualities. It needed to be accessible, inviting, and familiar to the community while supporting the health of the population it serves. Important considerations were to provide a space that fits into the community, be unique to its environment, and stand out as special. A cookie-cutter hospital or carbon copy from another community was not going to work for NCKMC.

As a two-story building and one of the largest structures in the area, the scale needed to be broken down so that it would not feel overwhelming or institutional. The design was influenced by local, residential, small-town vernacular so that the architectural aesthetic would feel welcoming and familiar. Once inside, visitors and staff can easily navigate between service areas while retaining access to daylight and nature.

NCKMC provides a canvas that will remain functional over time. Not only does the new facility provide services not previously available in the county or neighboring counties, but the campus has been designed to flex and grow over time. Functional program components like ambulatory services, inpatient beds, emergency and urgent care, radiology, lab, support services, and utilities have all been designed so that they can independently grow with future needs as this thriving community continues to develop.

This project was a true team effort with all parties invested in the best possible outcome for this small rural community. Working through a global pandemic, a material supply shortage crisis, budget realignments, and various other challenges, we were able to deliver a hospital that will keep the town thriving and growing for years to come. Since opening, the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive.