QUINCY — Construction for the new Quincy Valley Medical Center is tentatively scheduled for this fall.

“September 11 is our go date for construction,” said QVMC board member Anthony Gonzalez. “We’re trying to get this thing off the ground as quickly as we can.”

Joe Kunkel, a consultant working with QVMC officials on the project, said the budget for construction – which would not include things like furniture and medical equipment – is about $38 million. A May 1 estimate had the cost at about $39.8 million, but hospital officials, the architects and contractors worked to cut it down, Kunkel said.

“We identified a number of cost-saving opportunities that didn’t change (project) scope, didn’t change a single point of care. It’s just (asking) are there ways to do this slightly differently,” Kunkel said. “And that brought us back pretty close to our $38 million.”

The current construction estimate is about $19,500 over the projected budget, Kunkel said.

“To be $20,000 off your budget, in a $38 million budget, we feel like that’s good enough to keep moving forward,” Kunkel said. “Because our contingency (fund) can pick that up as we need to.”

Quincy Hospital District voters authorized issuing bonds for up to $55 million in August 2022 to pay for the new hospital. The new hospital will be located next to the existing building, which will remain open during construction.

To get the project moving Kunkel said the design and construction team is suggesting breaking the project into phases, and getting board approval for the first phase in late July. The first phase would include the demolition of two buildings on the site, removal of some trees and other site preparation, and starting the process for the building’s elevator. Kunkel estimated that would cost about $2 million.

The committee overseeing the project, which includes hospital officials as well as the contractor and consultants, will be checking cost estimates before submitting the first phase to the hospital board for approval.

“The important thing for us as we do this is to feel confident that the remainder of the work – say we go for the (first phase), that the remaining $36 million will be coming in at the numbers we’re expecting,” he said.

Kunkel said the phased approach would allow construction to start in the fall. The current schedule – which Kunkel emphasized is still tentative – estimates the new hospital will be completed in spring 2025.

“Then, of course, we would go in, demolish the old hospital and we do site improvements after that,” he said.

The cost estimates are still subject to revision, he said.

“We’re feeling comfortable and confident that we’re in the right neighborhood, because we’ve been pricing it all the way along. But I’ve been doing this too long to tell you that it’s done,” he said.

The hospital still does have some options if costs increase, he said.

The first step of the project was the removal of two pine trees, planted about the time the current facility was built in 1957. Chief Executive Officer Glenda Bishop and other employees were in the parking lot as they were removed, she said.

“We watched that tree come down and a couple of us looked at each other and said, ‘So it begins. Let’s do it,’” she said.

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