Activity starts on Samaritan Hospital construction site Monday

MOSES LAKE — Dirt will start moving Monday on the site of the new Samaritan Hospital, with construction fences going up the week after.

“We are going to start mobilizing on Monday. You will see there’s going to be all kinds of earthworking equipment that will show up in the first week,” said Matt Pulick of Graham Construction, general contractors for the project. “They’re going to be moving dirt around to prepare for the site fencing that’s going to go up the following week.”

After the fence goes up crews will install construction offices, temporary electricity and internet service, along with a water source crews will use to keep down the dust. A “progress camera” will be set up as part of the site preparation; it will take pictures of the site every 10 minutes throughout construction, Pulick said.

“We’re all good to go,” he said.

A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 6, but Gretchen Youngren, chief development and communications officer, said the site will be busy the entire day.

“Sunup to sundown,” Youngren said.

Samaritan commissioners approved two resolutions for project financing during a special meeting Thursday.

The current estimate for construction is $143.87 million. Brad Berg, attorney for the hospital, said the first group of bonds to pay for the construction will be sold Tuesday. Commissioners approved an updated financing plan Aug. 23.

“Where we are in the process now is to actually implement that financing plan,” Berg said.

That requires separate resolutions for different sections of the finance plan, he said. The hospital also received a $136 million loan for the project from the US Department of Agriculture.

“That financing plan includes a number of bonds, or notes, that will be issued to provide various parts of the financing,” Berg said.

Hospital district residents approved a $130 million construction bond in April, and one of Thursday’s resolutions authorized the issuance of about $73.18 million in bonds that will be paid back with taxes from the voter-approved bond.

A different set of construction bonds will be paid back from the district’s existing levy and its operations. Commissioners will hold another special meeting to approve those bond sales. Payments from the USDA loan come at the end of the project.

Commissioners approved the construction of a new 50-bed hospital in 2018, with a preliminary design completed in 2019. The building will be three stories, with each floor slightly smaller than the floor below.

Construction was scheduled to begin in 2020, with construction documents prepared and a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for June 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed construction, and costs rose in the meantime. Commissioners had the option to start construction in 2022 but decided against it because the available financing fell well short of the revised estimates for construction

They accepted a revised construction estimate in July.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.