Hospital considers 20 million dollar plan
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on July 13, 2005 1:45 PM
The next phase of the master facility plan at Wayne Memorial Hospital is estimated to cost nearly $20 million.
Ken Gerrard, chairman of the building and grounds committee, told the board of directors Tuesday some of the buildings that need to be replaced or relocated are more than 30 years old.
Gerrard said the projects being considered center around heating and air conditioning, and include replacing the energy plant and laundry building and enlarging the maintenance building.
The plan calls for moving the energy plant to a location away from the front of the hospital and getting suitable equipment to meet the needs of the hospital while taking into account the rising costs of construction.
"We have a number of issues about our electrical services we're dealing with," Gerrard said. "All of these things are necessary in continuing to upgrade the facilities.
"Many have not been replaced since the initial move to the site 35 years ago," said William Paugh, hospital president and CEO.
He said that replacing and upgrading the aging mechanical and electrical systems is a necessity.
"This is a huge piece of capital that we're looking at in infrastructures, but it really is needed," he told the board.
Gerrard said the savings also could be significant.
"One of the big reasons, like anything else you want to replace at that age, is for significant energy savings," he said.
Estimated price tag for the project, which is expected to take two years to complete, is almost $20 million.
No action was required from the board at this point, and the finance committee was to continue efforts toward the bidding process, Gerrard said.
Paugh said the discussion is preliminary and there is still the architectural and design phase to consider. The committees are expected to update the board at a later meeting with recommendations on whether to proceed with the project and how it will be financed.