MOSES LAKE — The first floor of Samaritan Clinic will get a whole new look by the end of the year. Samaritan Healthcare commissioners approved a remodeling plan at the regular board meeting Tuesday.

Total project cost was estimated at $1.26 million, with Samaritan paying about $1.16 million. That includes about $921,000 for construction and about $337,000 for other expenses, like taxes and furniture. Completion date is projected for January 2018.

The pharmacy space is occupied by a private company, Laketown Pharmacy, and they will pay for upgrades to the pharmacy, about $54,000.

The project was expanded to include upgrades to the first floor heating system. Chief Executive Officer Teresa Sullivan said she went into the clinic on a Saturday during the winter. “I walked in and I (thought) ‘wow, it’s really cold in here.’”

The project focuses on removing walls and opening up space, which made it important to fix the heating system, Sullivan said. While researching the options, hospital staff discovered the air circulation system in the urgent care department required some upgrades, she said, and those upgrades were added to the project.

P.J. Bauser, Mahlum architects, Seattle, said the design ended up focusing on three principles. Hospital officials wanted to make the building is more welcoming and less intimidating, Bauser said. Hospital officials also wanted to make it easier for patients to talk with clinic staff, and make it easier to navigate the first floor.

Walls will be removed in the urgent care and family medicine waiting areas, and both will get new reception desks. The pharmacy entrance and interior will be reworked. The new waiting rooms will be able to accommodate more patients, and there will be room for overflow in adjoining spaces. The spaces will get new floors and ceilings, and walls will be painted or clad in wood.

When the architects started looking at the heating system, they found “what we call infiltration, which is cold air coming in every time of these (exterior) doors are opened,” Bauser said. In addition, the corridors aren’t heated currently.

The plan adds and enlarges heaters in the entries, he said. “We’re going to put warm air around the outside and pull it in.” The air circulation system in the urgent care department will get an upgrade to comply with current state regulations.

The hospital foundation and employee committee will be working to raise money for a coffee-juice-snack bar in the lobby. Gretchen Youngren, the hospital’s director of development and communications, said it will be named “Inspire Cafe” in recognition of the foundation.

Red Door Cafe will be the concessionaire, serving coffee and beverages, soup and sandwiches, Youngren said. Tentative hours will be 7 a.m. to 2 to 3 p.m. weekdays. Weekend hours haven’t been established, she said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].