Altru event marks official placement of time capsule in new hospital

GRAND FORKS – It was a time to reflect – and to look forward.

At an event Tuesday, July 16, Altru Health System officials gathered several dozen people to mark the placement of a time capsule in the new $470 million Altru Hospital, set to open in early 2025.

Many of those in attendance were donors, employees or people who’ve been involved in the development of the hospital.

The longest-serving employee, Mavis Fayette of Grand Forks, a nurse who has dedicated 48 years of her life to Altru, said of the new structure, “I think it’ll be really nice. We need some upgrades.”

As staff members transition to the facility, “there will be a little bit of chaos, that’s to be expected. … We’re good at taking care of patients,” said Fayette, who works in same-day surgery, “but it’ll be finding things (in a new setting).

“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a challenge, but we’ll get through it.”

Dawn Jenkins, East Grand Forks, who has also worked at the hospital for 48 years, said the new building “is just so cool.”

“I think it’ll be really neat,” said Jenkins, who handles referrals and authorizations. “It’ll be sad to see the other building go, but it’s a good change. I’m excited for it.”

During the program, Todd Forkel, chief executive officer of Altru Health System, noted the dramatic changes that have impacted health care delivery in the past half-century since United Hospital was built.

“We don’t know what 50 years will bring,” Forkel said. Time capsules represent “an opportunity to put a time-stamp on a moment” when the health system is on the brink of opening a new facility.

A plaque on the cafeteria wall, where the time capsule was to be installed, reads: “On July 16, 2024, a time capsule was placed 2½ feet behind this wall, prior to the opening of this hospital. The enclosed items were thoughtfully selected to represent healthcare of the time and showcase the work of the Altru team. #AltruProud”.

For Altru leaders, it required “courage, vision and foresight” to move ahead with the project during a time when the health care industry was experiencing challenges, such as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Forkel said.

At the invitation-only event, Forkel thanked donors and everyone who has been instrumental in the planning, design and construction of the hospital.

“There’s fullness in our hearts for the work that has happened here,” he said.

Forkel also praised the involvement of the late Lonnie Laffen, a founder of JLG Architects, who was serving as chairman of Altru Health System’s executive board when he died unexpectedly, at age 62, in December 2020.

“He was so instrumental” in developing the vision for the new hospital, Forkel said.

Tuesday, the date selected to mark the placing of the time capsule, was Lonnie Laffen’s birthday. Forkel called the coincidence “a God thing.”

As impressive as the new hospital is, “this place won’t come alive until people are here,” he said.

Quoting Walt Disney, Forkel said, “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality."

Also speaking during the program, Josh Kehrwald, principal architect with JLG Architects, noted that he’s been involved with the building project since September 2017. After COVID struck in 2020, he witnessed Altru’s decision to pause the project.

“It must have been a difficult decision,” Kehrwald said, “but, clearly, it was the right decision.”

He commended Altru leadership “for sticking to the vision (for the hospital),” adding that leaders were laser-focused on what the community really needs.

Kehrwald also referred to the tens of thousands of hours spent bringing the plan for the building to life.

“More than 20 firms brought their expertise into this project to bring world-class care to Altru,” he said.

To create a structure that enhances the quality of health care is especially important, he said.

“Projects like this drive architects to make communities stronger, better places to live,” Kehrwald said, noting that in the past 50 years, there have been many changes in health care.

Looking forward, he said, “I believe this building is prepared to handle whatever comes its way.”

Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald

Also, during the program, Dr. Josh Deere, president of Altru Health System, told audience members, “We want to respect the past.”

Deere also is looking forward to the day “in early 2025 when we start to deliver our care here,” he said.

He and others on Altru’s executive team gathered items such as pictures, documents and technology tools for the time capsule, he said. “There’s a little of everything in there. Every department has a spot in the box.”

In the distant future, “whoever opens this will get a good idea of what we were dealing with,” he said.

Among items they’ll find in the wooden box are a pager and Excel spreadsheets, Deere said, noting that the pager, about half the size of a cigarette pack, “is late-’70s technology we still use today, sadly.” Altru is on the cusp replacing it with a cellphone app.

Dramatic changes in technology have revolutionized healthcare over the past five decades, he said. For example, “we used to make X-rays. We don’t do that now; we click a button.”

The time capsule, a 3’x2’x3’ box, was designed by Korey Elde, project manager, and built by cabinet-makers Greg Greff and Chad Cook, all with Community Contractors Inc.

The box, with a domed lid and made of walnut wood, took two weeks to build, Elde said.

“We were just told to make it look like one of a kind, to use our imaginations,” he said.

The box needed to be big enough to hold numerous items, Elde said, “and not too small.”

“It’s kind of a neat project,” he said.

JLG’s principal architect, Kehrwald, said working on this seven-story, 552,000-square-foot building “is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Although not born and raised in Grand Forks, Kehrwald, a Wahpeton, North Dakota, native, said, “The ability to do a project for a cornerstone organization and set the course for the next 50 years is really special.”

In the field of architecture, he said, “It’s extremely meaningful to do what we do and have the impact that this facility will have.”

During the program, he also contributed to the time capsule: a jump drive “with all the floor plans and various construction documents for this building,” he said. The documents include architectural drawings and structural, mechanical and electrical engineering plans.

He referred, too, to the untimely death of Laffen, in 2020, as planning for the hospital ensued.

Among the guests at Tuesday’s event, Pam Laffen, Lonnie Laffen’s widow, was formally recognized by Forkel during the program.

Lonnie Laffen was an ardent community supporter, who “was passionate about Altru and keeping things in town,” Pam Laffen said. “He was very pro-community. … He wanted everyone to feel as passionate about Grand Forks as he did.”

She said her husband was very involved in the community – and, as a couple, they “were always advocates” for things that would be good for the community.

About the new hospital, “he would be so proud. He had total trust and faith in his JLG people,” she said.

Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald

At the close of Tuesday’s event, as he surveyed the vast interior of the hospital, Craig Tweten of PCL Construction said, “This is a big deal.”

At the peak of construction activity, Tweten, PCL principal in charge locally, estimated that an average of 460 to 480 construction workers were onsite during workdays. More recently, that number has shrunk to about 150.

At this point, “we need to take care of the little nagging issues,” Tweten said. “It’s pretty fun.”

It is remarkable that, in the more than two million man-hours invested in this project to date, there have been no reportable injury incidents, said Brad Tweten, director of human resources and safety for Community Contractors Inc.

PCL/Community Contractors Inc., a joint venture formed 11 years ago, is leading the construction of the new hospital and will be in charge of razing the old Altru Hospital starting next spring.