MOSES LAKE — The total project cost for a new Samaritan Hospital will be about $225 million, and construction could start in November. Samaritan board members accepted a “guaranteed maximum price” for the construction phase of the project Tuesday.

Board members voted 5-0 to accept the GMP from Graham Construction, the project contractor.

“This is a big milestone. Especially when you think about where you all have been over the last number of years,” said Joe Kunkel, the consultant working with the hospital on the project.

Building the hospital will cost a maximum of $145.7 million.

The guaranteed maximum price is the highest amount Samaritan will pay for construction and does not include other expenses like medical equipment and permit fees.

Construction costs have decreased since July 2022, said Abram Jenks of the Klosh Group, consultants working on the project.

“I will tell you, it’s a different world today than it was two years ago, or a year ago,” Kunkel said.

Companies are bidding on portions of the project such as drywall and painting, he said.

Samaritan Chief Executive Officer Theresa Sullivan said the next step will be to submit the proposal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its approval. The USDA has granted a $136 million low-interest loan for the hospital construction.

Kunkel said USDA approval is expected by late October, which would allow construction to start in early November.

Jenks said that while the cost of construction has gone down, the cost of medical equipment has increased. Equipment in the existing hospital is scheduled to be moved to the new hospital, but because of the delays some of it will have to be replaced rather than moved, Kunkel said.

Because the value of the project increased, so have permitting fees, Kunkel added.

Board members rejected a GMP from Graham in July 2022. At the time the estimated costs were more than $30 million more than the available funding. Hospital district voters approved a $130 million construction bond request in April.

The new hospital, located at the intersection of Yonezawa Boulevard and South Clover Drive, will be about 174,000 square feet. Like the existing hospital, it will have 50 beds. Kunkel said the new building will have the capacity to add 10 more rooms without additional construction.

“A 20% increase in your bed capacity, should you need to go there, without adding a new building,” Kunkel said.

Most of the rooms could be converted to accommodate intensive care patients if necessary. Obstetrics patients will be able to be in one room, rather than being moved around, during their entire stay, he said.

The emergency room also will be enlarged, and the site will have space to expand it further when that becomes necessary, he said. The new hospital will have six operating rooms, three more than the current hospital, and the rooms will be big enough to accommodate equipment that the current surgery cannot, Kunkel said.

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