Samaritan likely to break ground on hospital in summer
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 1 month AGO
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Groundbreaking for a new Samaritan Hospital to replace the existing facility (pictured) probably will occur this summer.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Groundbreaking for a new Samaritan Hospital to replace the existing facility (pictured) probably will occur this summer.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Groundbreaking for a new Samaritan Hospital to replace the existing facility (pictured) probably will occur this summer.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | February 26, 2020 11:59 PM
Review of cost estimates now underway
MOSES LAKE — While a date for the start of construction at the new Samaritan Healthcare hospital in Moses Lake hasn’t been announced, it probably will be after June 30.
Samaritan’s hospital district commissioners approved construction of a new 50-bed hospital in March 2019, and groundbreaking tentatively had been scheduled for spring 2020. But a groundbreaking date closer to midsummer came up during a discussion of financing for the project.
Bob Pennington, a financial consultant working with hospital officials on the project, said one of the lenders had different provisions in its loan proposal, depending on whether construction started before or after June 30. “We think it’s actually going to be a date after that,” Pennington said.
Chief Executive Officer Theresa Sullivan said hospital officials looked at the final proposed design last week, reviewing exterior and interior materials and landscaping. “We are moving into the construction documents phase now,” she said.
Joe Kunkel, the consultant working with the hospital on the project, said representatives of the contractor, Graham Construction and Management, Spokane, will review the proposed design and provide a cost estimate. Kunkel said that process should take about three weeks.
Changes to the design will be required if the cost estimate exceeds the project budget, he said. Hospital officials are applying for loans totaling $128 million.
“We should know a little over three weeks from now how that (the cost estimate) paired against what we were anticipating for costs and see if we need to make adjustments or we just move forward,” Kunkel said.
As part of the financing discussion, commissioners voted to apply for a $31 million loan from Washington Trust Bank. Hospital officials have applied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for $97 million, the bulk of the loan.
With construction of a new hospital beginning this year, hospital officials are starting to consider what to do with the existing facility.
“We will also be setting up a meeting – I don’t know that it’s been scheduled yet – for planning for this existing building,” Sullivan said.
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