LA GRANDE — After two years of construction — and many more years of planning — Grande Ronde Hospital is ready to unveil its new facility to the public.

Community members can get a sneak peek at the surgical services building before doors open for care during a open house on Friday, Sept. 27. The new facility, 900 Sunset Drive in La Grande, will be open to the public from 3-8 p.m. with guided tours running every 10 minutes. There will also be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6 p.m.

The hospital broke ground on the 96,000-square-foot building in 2022 to bring all of Grande Ronde Hospital’s surgical services together in one place. The $72.6 million facility houses patient check-in, preoperation, operating, waiting and postoperative recovery rooms, plus space that supports surgical services.

The former operating rooms were built in the 1960s and were in need of replacement as the ceilings no longer met state building codes. (They were between 18 to 24 inches too low to meet new codes).

While the hospital received a waiver from the state for the ceiling height issue, it was set to expire in 2028. The construction of the new building addressed the updated code requirements.

The expansion also allows Grande Ronde Hospital to use the old operating rooms for new purposes, hospital president and CEO Jeremy Davis said.