Salina Regional Health Center celebrated the ribbon cutting of its new coffee shop “The Coffee Corner” located in the lobby Thursday morning. The event had members of the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce and hospital staff celebrating with coffee and treats made from the coffee shop.

The storefront’s role is to sell coffee and pastries to hospital staff, patients, and visitors. Although operated by hospital staff, The Coffee Corner is under the Mokas brand which supplies its resources and ingredients.

According to Christina Fowler, the manager at The Coffee Corner, the project started around 7 years ago when one of the HR employees had an idea to put a coffee shop in the lobby to help boost morale and serve guests. The idea went on the backburner until about a year ago when a visit to another hospital with a lobby coffee shop sparked the idea back into action. Now with a partnership with local coffee chain Mokas, the shop has become a reality.

“We needed to find a coffee shop that would help prepare and plan the layout and operation.” Fowler says: “Mokas being a local chain was the best candidate. We’re hoping to establish ourselves as a household name in the community being with the hospital, and we hope to really help rejuvenate our staff so they can have a refreshed day.”

Suhail Aroum, who is the VP of Operations at Mokas, has helped with over a year of planning and preparation for its design and operation. From helping train management, designing the register and producing the menu, Aroum sees The Coffee Corner as a first step into expanding future prospects of business in Salina. “Our CEO Jason Ingermanson takes a lot of pride by being from Salina, and we hope to see more involvement with future businesses down the road.’’

So far a staff favorite is the Fireside Latte which contains English toffee and toasted marshmallow.

The Coffee Corner is located in the main lobby of the Salina Regional Health Center at 400 S Santa Fe Ave.