By Lori EhdeThe party’s over, and reality is settling in for hospital and clinic staff who have started the process of moving into their new quarters on the north edge of Luverne.According to hospital administration, Sunday’s public open house accommodated 3,000 to 4,000 people for tours and refreshments."It went amazingly well," said Diane Westenberg, hospital executive assistant.She admitted to worrying about how it would go, not knowing how many people to expect."I had nightmares about people lined up at the door and out into the parking lot," she said. "But we had none of that. We were so pleased."It’s not a scientific figure, but Westenberg said 3,500 people came Sunday."That’s a lot of people," she said. "It was steady until 8 o’clock. I think the last group left at about 9."She said part of the reason things went smoothly Sunday was that so many helpers were involved.About 60 trained volunteers led groups of people between points of interest, and roughly 80 hospital and clinic employees were on hand to offer information about the various highlights in the hospital and clinic."We had a lot of nice comments," Westenberg said. "It was just an awesome day."Moving process started this weekWith construction wrapped up and the open house party out of the way, the moving process started Monday.Staff in the clinic offices moved Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and hospital business office staff was scheduled to move today, with hospital administration moving Friday.Two moving trucks were on hand Monday and Tuesday, in addition to several inmates with Community Corrections working off sentences to serve.A good share of the clinic office move was taken care of by office workers themselves — one box at a time.Workers said this week will require patience to get through, but they said the end result will be worth it."It’s exciting," said insurance specialist Zoe Harnack. "We’re the first ones in."Next week will be a period of settling in and moving remaining medical equipment and records.The first day of business will be Friday, July 29.More to look forward toHospital CEO Jerry Carl said seeing the new hospital and clinic reach completion after nearly three years of planning and building has been gratifying."It’s wonderful, and certainly something to be proud of," he said Tuesday. "To get good feedback from the community is very satisfying, and our staff deserves a good deal of the credit for that. The time has been stretched and stretched."He also credited donors and volunteers who generously helped to pull things together."The support from our local people has been wonderful," he said. "The community has been excited and supportive, and when the community puts that trust in your hands, it gives you confidence to get the job done."Carl has announced he will retire next spring but said he’s glad to be on board while the new facility gets started.Another exciting development on the horizon for Sioux Valley Luverne Medical Center will be the process of switching to paperless medical records.Starting in January, patient files will become electronic, allowing for improved physician access to information, improved privacy for patients and improved efficiency for everyone.Luverne is the first hospital in the entire Sioux Valley network of health care facilities to use the paperless system, called Epic.Because of it’s relatively small size and brand new technology, Luverne is the perfect test site for the technology."This is just a phenomenal thing that will help us be more efficient," Carl said.He’s been at the helm of Luverne’s hospital for 18 years and said he’s pleased to be leaving when things are going so well."If you’re writing a conclusion to your career, you couldn’t have scripted it better," Carl said Tuesday. "How could you make it better than that?"