There was a mix of satisfaction and excitement in the air earlier this month at the groundbreaking for Butler Health System's $167 million renovation and surgical tower construction project.

For many in the community, the ceremony marking visible progress in the hospital's expansion and updating was a long time coming. Some weeks earlier, the demolition of the former Nixon building on the hospital's East Brady Street main campus was completed to make room for the 150,000-square-foot, seven-story surgical tower, which will be connected to the existing building.

The idea of expanding or renovating the hospital was first discussed nearly 10 years ago. The planning process began about six or seven years ago and got rocky about four years ago. Public debate was lively over whether the hospital could or should be renovated. There was a push from the hospital administration to build an entirely new facility on a greenfield site somewhere outside of the city.

There were many months of discussion and debate that was often vigorous and contentious.

Board president Fred Bennett described the long road leading up to the groundbreaking as having some detours, dead ends and speed bumps. And Bennett was right to also suggest that those detours, dead ends and speed bumps actually helped produce a better result. By exploring a range of options and having a lively public debate over many aspects of the project, there was extensive vetting of many different ideas and approaches.

So when the final plan was announced to build the new surgical tower and renovate other parts of the existing facility on East Brady Street, while at the same time developing a number of outpatient clinics around the county, there was confidence that it was the best solution.

While not generating the excitement of the new surgical tower, the outpatient facilities are an important component of the BHS vision for health care in the future and how best to serve the entire county. Those facilities now number 19, as noted by Ken DeFurio, health system president and chief executive officer, during his remarks at the groundbreaking.

While creating those off-campus facilities, the health system bought the Morgan IIoffice complex, a state-of-the-art medical building on 8.5 acres at the intersection of Routes 422, 68 and 38.

The relatively short distance between the main hospital campus and the Morgan IIbuilding will be enhanced by a new road to the hospital to be built off of East Jefferson Street.

The long, winding and sometimes- bumpy road that hospital officials have traveled to get to the point of beginning construction on a new, improved and expanded hospital has produced a level of community support that would have been hard to imagine just three years ago.

A downside of the years of debate leading up to the groundbreaking has been a substantial increase in the project's overall cost over earlier projections. But the upside of the long road trip has been plenty of time to fully explore all options and to visit other facilities across the country to bring the best ideas and practices back to Butler, while avoiding the mistakes other hospitals have made.

All involved in getting the hospital to this point, notably the current BHS administration, management and board, deserve credit for what is predicted to be a state-of-the-art health care facility that is also independent and financially sound and that will serve Butler County for decades to come. Credit also is due the opponents and vocal critics of previous plans for their part in the distillation process that wound up bringing the community together for the June 5 groundbreaking on the East Brady Street campus.