After nine years and $18 million, Natchez Regional&160;Medical Center was able to unveil its completed renovation to the public Friday morning.

For their &uot;Renovation Celebration,&uot; the hospital hosted a community health and safety fair and blood drive. A VIP showing of the completed renovation was held Thursday night.

Virginia Salmon, president of the Adams County Board of Supervisors, said she was impressed with the internal plan of the renovation, which included combining all necessary pre-admission tests into one area. &uot;I was very pleased with it,&uot; she said. &uot;I could see the pride and obvious enthusiasm of the staff.&uot;

NRMC interim CEO Karen Fiducia said physicians and patients are also pleased with the new &uot;one-stop&uot; plan for the pre-admissions area. This allows a patient to stay in one area and have all necessary pre-admission tests performed, including anesthesia interview, lab work and X-ray.

&uot;Our goal is to have this process very quick,&uot; Fiducia said. Fine tuning the length of time between pre-admission testing and patient admission for surgical or other procedures has helped increase efficiency, she said.

Allowing a patient to go to one area for pre-admission testing increases convenience and comfort for the patient, Fiducia said.

Natchez Mayor Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot; Brown said the hospital had undergone a &uot;radical, dramatic change&uot; from when it was first constructed.

&uot;It’s much more user-friendly now,&uot; he said.

NRMC’s original bond issue of $18 million for the renovation project was completed Oct. 15, 1991. The actual renovation began in 1992.

&uot;We began with the emergency room, intensive care unit, and women’s center,&uot; Fiducia said. &uot;Then, we renovated patients rooms. The last part was non-direct patient care areas.&uot;

Tours of the newly renovated areas of the hospital were conducted every half hour Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will resume today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other services available will be free blood glucose tests, cancer detection for breast and colon cancer, cardiac assessments, pulmonary function studies, diabetes foot screenings, and fire prevention presentations. Cholesterol tests will also be available for a charge of $5.