Planning continues for new Samaritan Hospital
A sign along Yonezawa Boulevard shows the site of the new Samaritan Hospital. The project was placed on hold at the beginning of the pandemic, but officials with the hospital district are working to move forward with the project now.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE — A discombobulated construction market and construction material availability concerns are having an effect, or could have an effect, on the construction of the new Samaritan Hospital.
Hospital commissioners approved the construction of a new 50-bed hospital in March 2019, and a design was finalized in late 2019. The project was halted with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and was delayed while hospital officials worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to obtain funding.
Bid documents were in the process of preparation when the pandemic halted the project. Joe Kunkel, a consultant working with hospital officials on the project, said those documents are being updated to reflect construction market conditions after two years of disruption. Kunkel gave an update on the project during the hospital commission meeting Tuesday.
“It’s a very volatile market right now,” Kunkel said.
As a result, it’s important to start ordering components and hiring subcontractors now, he said. Potential bidders are being asked to provide an estimate of costs for various parts of the project, starting with the roof, then construction materials like concrete, then the structural steel for the building’s frame.
If the estimates don’t fit within the existing budget the design will be reevaluated until it’s within the budget, Kunkel said. The goal is to submit an estimate on the project cost by July, he said.
The total project cost is estimated at about $156 million. The hospital district has a $136 million loan from the USDA and will contribute $27 million to the project, including $10 million in land.
The new hospital, as designed in 2019, is about 160,000 square feet, three stories with each floor slightly smaller than the floor below. It will be located on district-owned property at the intersection of Clover Drive and Yonezawa Boulevard, across the street from Lowe’s Home Improvement store.
Kunkel said in an earlier interview that the design is still usable, although some changes will have to be incorporated. Building codes related to energy efficiency have changed, and the design will have to include the updated standards. In addition, architects and designers want to review the design to include some of the lessons learned during the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.