Samaritan Clinic lobby remodel to begin in August

MOSES LAKE — The bid came in higher than projected, but a project to remodel parts of the first floor of Samaritan Clinic will start in August.

Total project cost is $1.4 million, with Samaritan paying $1.3 million. The original estimate for Samaritan’s share was $1.16 million.

Samaritan commissioners approved the bid during the regular meeting Tuesday. The contractor is Western States Construction, Spokane.

Construction is projected to start in late August, although no date has been set. The project is expected to be completed by February 2018.

“We only received one bid, and that bid was over budget,” said chief executive officer Theresa Sullivan. The construction industry in Washington is booming and that’s having an effect on projects all over the state, said project architect P.J. Bauser, Mahlum architects, Seattle.

The first floor is the first step in a larger remodeling project at the clinic, Sullivan said. “We were looking at a three to five year timeline for (the remodeling project),” Bauser said. “Recognizing there were bigger things on the horizon, but that some progress needed to be made.” As a result, Sullivan said, hospital officials decided to ask commissioners to go ahead with the project.

The goal is to make the lobby more welcoming and less intimidating, he said. 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 remodeled spaces will get new floors and ceilings, and walls will be painted or paneled in wood.

In addition, the heating-cooling system on the first floor will be upgraded to be more efficient, and to meet current construction regulations for healthcare facilities. The Samaritan Foundation is working to raise money to open a coffee-juice-sandwich bar in the building.

Commissioner Tom Frick asked about changes to the agreement on the pharmacy portion of the remodel. Sullivan said those parts of the project, new carpet and new baseboards, were on reconsideration, determined to be part of the landlord’s responsibility.