(Posted Sept. 22, 2016)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
On Sept. 19, Dana Engle, Madison Health CEO, and Bob Waldeck, the hospital’s new vice president of strategy and construction management, provided the Madison County commissioners with an update on the hospital’s upcoming expansion.
The project includes a two-story, 24,000 square-foot addition to the front of the hospital. The first floor will house a new emergency department. The second floor is for a cancer center and medical offices. Renovation of existing space and upgrades to power plant equipment also are part of the plan.
Waldeck said the hospital is nearly ready to approve selections of an architect and construction manage-ment company. The schematic design phase is set to start Oct. 1 and will take nine months. A groundbreak-ing is expected to take place in late spring or early summer 2017. The addition should be finished by late 2018, after which the renovation phase will start. All totaled, the project is estimated to cost $25 million.
Commissioner Paul Gross asked what portion of the budget the power plant upgrade comprised. Waldeck said it is roughly 20 percent of the cost. Gross asked if the hospital would consider an arrangement by which the county purchased the equipment and leased it back to the hospital at a reasonable rate. He said it would be a way for the county to put to use and get a return on some of its idle capital, while saving the hospital some money.
Waldeck dubbed Gross’s idea as timely, stating, “Right now, we are looking at ways to fund the infrastructure part…there might be some potential out there. We are exploring ideas like that.”
