EPHRATA - Columbia Basin Hospital patrons got their first look at the new acute care wing at an open house Saturday.

The new 25-bed addition is the first phase of a $13 million remodeling project, scheduled for completion in spring 2014. Nine of the rooms will be dedicated to long-term care, Alayna Lodi, the hospital's public information director, said.

One room is designed for patients who might have serious infectious diseases like tuberculosis; its "negative pressure" ventilation system keeps the room's air from circulating into the system that serves the rest of the hospital, Diane Clark, the hospital's business services director, said. Clark was among the employees providing tours at the open house.

All rooms are single beds, with bathrooms that are updated from the existing acute care wing, which dates from the 1950s. They're also about 50 square feet bigger than the existing rooms.

Each room and the front reception area were built with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the town of Ephrata.

The new space has waiting areas at each end of the hall, with high ceilings and big windows. Lighting in the hallways is supplemented with skylights.

Hospital board member Keith Knitter said the board wanted an open feeling in the space, balancing that with patient privacy. "We want to have it so people can feel like they're at home," he said.

Knitter said the new wing could be open to patients as early as this week. Clark said patients from the nursing home will be moved to the new wing while the nursing home is being remodeled. That move will start this week, she said.

The new acute care wing is 18,500 square feet, and the new space also expands the physical therapy department to 4,050 square feet.

The PT department gets a bigger exercise space and room for more equipment. The money for some of the new equipment was donated by district patrons, Clark said.

Along with more space, the department gets a therapy pool and a small kitchen. The pool will be used to help patients regain mobility, stroke victims being an example, Clark said. There's a treadmill built into the pool bottom, Lodi said.

The kitchen is fully equipped so that patients can relearn food preparation tasks, Clark said. The new PT department also has private treatment rooms and office space.

Demolition has already started on the front entrance, and remodeling will begin in the nursing home this week, as soon as patients are moved, Lodi said. The project is scheduled for completion in spring 2014.