Altru Health System’s hospital project in Grand Forks is moving forward after a month-long hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The hospital announced the restart of the project on Tuesday afternoon.
“While 2020 has been a challenging time for all of us, Altru has been able to make decisions necessary to enter 2021 with strong financial prospects,” said Dave Molmen, Altru interim CEO, in a statement sent to the Herald. “As we continue to focus on the health needs of our region now and in the future, it is imperative that we resume building the hospital and invest in the health and wellbeing of our community.”
The project will resume in autumn and should be completed in 2024.
The project to build a new hospital at Altru’s current location in Grand Forks was officially completed in June 2019 at a cost of around $ 305 million. Original plans were for a seven-story building with 528,000 square meters. In December 2019, the project was scaled back from seven to five floors at a new planned cost of $ 250 million. In early April, as the pandemic struck the region, the hospital announced it would postpone the project to focus support on the staff and the community.
While construction is scheduled to begin in autumn, work on the project will begin immediately. The project is funded through a combination of municipal bonds, cash and philanthropic support. Most of what was previously planned for the hospital will stay the same, but the lessons of COVID will be incorporated into the final design over the next few months.
“The hospital of the future is not the hospital of today,” said Dr. Steven Weiser, President of Altru, in the statement sent to the Herald. “The past year has shown our industry that the needs of our community are different than they were before COVID, and we are glad we can adjust our plans to ensure we build the hospital our community will need for years to come. “
Comments are closed.