Samaritan to expand Patton Clinic

MOSES LAKE — Construction should start by mid-2021 on a $3,755,035 expansion of Samaritan Healthcare’s clinic near Patton Boulevard, as commissioners approved the project Tuesday.

Gretchen Youngren, executive director of development and communications for Samaritan, said Wednesday when the expansion is completed the clinic will occupy the entire building.

Samaritan Chief Administrative Officer Alex Town said the clinic occupies about 5,500 square feet at 8420 Aspi Blvd. (Even though it’s on a side street, it’s called the Patton Clinic.) Joe Kunkel, a consultant working with Samaritan on its building projects, said the expansion will add 6,200 square feet.

Hospital officials hired an occupational medicine specialist, Town said, and Kunkel said the Patton clinic is the preferred location for occupational medicine services. Two family practice physicians have been hired as well, and eventually their offices will be in the Patton clinic.

Design costs were estimated at $170,000, equipment costs at about $418,750, management costs at about $103,000 and taxes at $255,000. The actual construction will be about $2.6 million.

The construction estimate includes about $150,000 for upgrades to the building’s heating-cooling system. Kunkel said it’s difficult to maintain consistent temperatures with the current system.

Currently, the Patton clinic has a family medicine physician and a physician assistant. There’s also an urgent care clinic, which Kunkel said will be moved to the center of the building as part of the construction.

Hospital officials considered remodeling the space in 2019, Kunkel said, and some of the design work already has been completed. Additional design work will begin in January, and Kunkel estimated that would take about three months.

Once the design is complete, he estimated it would take about two months to hire a contractor and about a month for the necessary permits. Construction is projected to take about eight months, Kunkel said, and completed in the first quarter of 2022.

The contingency fund was budgeted at about $178,000. In answer to a question from commissioner Alan White, Kunkel said the contingency reflects uncertainty about the construction market. Construction costs may have risen since the last time Samaritan went out for bid on a new construction project, he said.