A new, $20.5 million hospital has opened in Pender in northeast Nebraska.

Gov. Dave Heineman was among the folks that turned out for Saturday's ribbon-cutting for the Pender Community Hospital.

The facility replaces Pender's aging hospital, built in the 1950s. Chief financial officer Melissa Kelly says the old hospital was cramped and had little room for expansion.

The new building has much more space and private in-patient rooms.