MOSES LAKE — The first layer of asphalt is down in some sections of the parking lot and a lot of the windows are in. And yes, that is landscaping going in on sections of the property. If the project stays on schedule, the first patients will be entering the doors of the new Samaritan Hospital in early March 2026. 

Okay, the doors aren’t in yet. But interior framing has started. In fact, framing is complete and drywall is up in the emergency room, lab and radiology department as of mid-September.  

Construction started on the new hospital in October 2023.  Joe Kunkel, the consultant who has worked with Samaritan since the project’s inception, said all the concrete has been poured for the floors, and about 80% of the roof is done. About 80% of the windows are in also. 

The fireproofing of the interior frame is completed, Kunkel wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald.  

“On any given day we have over 200 trades workers on site,” he wrote.  

The first coats of paint are being applied in some sections, although the finishing coats will wait until all the equipment has been installed.  

Hospital department managers and staff have been inspecting their new spaces in person, a process called a box walk. Department staff review the rooms and check to ensure that electrical outlets, internet connections and medical equipment connections such as oxygen lines are in the correct location before drywall is installed.  

Construction has reached the stage where hospital officials are talking about Moving Day. Kunkel said department managers are already planning for the move. They’re reviewing floor plans, room by room, to determine if equipment and furniture planned for each room is suitable.  

“We’ve done it a couple times already. This is our way of making sure that our equipment that we’re bringing over (from the existing facility) and what we’re ordering new is accurate,” Kunkel said in late August. 

The reviews also provide a check on existing equipment, ensuring that what hospital officials were planning to reinstall in the new facility still works and doesn’t need replacement, he said.   

Samaritan operations will shift from one location to another in one day, with patients still being treated and hospital operations continuing throughout.  

“I think there’s anxiety that happens when people start to think about, ‘How are we going to do this?’ How does a move day happen? How do you do that in a day? You do it in a day by preparing for a year,” Kunkel said.   

Actually moving in is about more than getting all the beds and desks in the right place. Hospitals are subject to stringent regulation, and different agencies must issue permits and licenses before the building can be occupied. Kunkel estimated the permitting process will take two to three months once construction is completed. 

Kunkel listed some of the permits required - construction reviews by the Washington Department of Health, and specific oversight agencies for specific departments like the pharmacy, the laboratory and imaging.  Now is the time, he said, to start contacting the varying agencies and updating them on the project. 

“We want to get on their radar,” he said.