WILLITS, Calif. – In keeping with the historical esteem of Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital’s legacy, it’s off to the races to move into the new hospital.

Howard Memorial Hospital officially received staff and stock certificate of occupancy from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, or OSHPD, on Aug. 11.

OSHPD is required by the state to review all new hospital plans and designs to ensure that they meet all special building code requirements. The agency also oversees all aspects of hospital construction.

According to Rick Bockmann, president and chief executive officer of Howard Memorial Hospital, “It has been a long time coming, but now we are that much closer to moving in to our community’s brand new state-of-the-art hospital. As you can imagine, this is an exciting time for our employees, physicians and community.”

With OSPHD approval, this means that Howard Memorial Hospital is now allowed to bring people into the building and stock the building as a hospital.

One of the next steps is to secure licensure from the California Department of Public Health, or CDPH.

“Once CDPH has a chance to thoroughly review our personnel’s competencies we will then be ready to open the hospital on Oct. 15, 2015. For now, our clinic teams are hard at work, learning the ins-and-outs of the new facility and the new technology that comes along with it and making sure we have everything in place for patient move-in,” explained Bockmann. “There is much work ahead but I am proud of our efforts on behalf of the communities we serve.”

With this development, Howard Memorial Hospital is pleased to announce a grand open house scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 13, from 1 to 4 p.m., where the community will have a chance to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the new facility.

“This is a pivotal milestone. Having grown up here, I know how much we need this hospital. It was a great privilege to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Amy Ford, senior project manager over hospital construction.

“We are excited to show the community their brand new hospital. Everyone is invited to our Grand Open House. This is their chance to see all the rooms and the equipment without actually being patients themselves,” shares Bockmann.

The new hospital offers private rooms with bathrooms, state-of–the-art operating rooms, a spacious emergency department with trauma bays, a helipad, and Roots – an organic farm-to-fork restaurant.

Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital is a 25-bed acute care hospital recognized internationally for its dedication to high quality patient-centered care.

Services include the Orthopedic Joint Center of Northern California, state-of-the-art radiology imaging, laboratory, in-patient and out-patient surgery, 24-hour emergency services, physical therapy and a soon-to-be full-service restaurant.

For more information about these services please visit www.howardhospital.com .