Work progressing on new hospital

Brick by brick (approximately 78,000 of them), metal stud by metal stud, the construction of the new hospital in Concordia is progressing toward a scheduled opening in October.
Cloud County Health Center, during a public ceremony on March 1, 2021, broke ground on the new $40.35-million, modern medical facility that is located on College Drive.
The 76,000-square-foot hospital will have 14 inpatient beds, an emergency department, surgery space, the rural health clinic, a variety of specialty clinic services, and an MRI suite - all on one level.
Construction of the hospital is expected to be completed in the fall with plans to open in October under a new name: North Central Kansas Medical Center.
The name change is designed to showcase the growing prowess of the facility in the region and the desire to serve those in the area looking for top-tier care.
Wet conditions last spring slowed the construction of the facility, but the general contractor, McCownGordon Construction, and a bevy of sub-contractors were able keep the project on track.
“We are on schedule, so honestly I couldn’t be happier,” Cloud County Health Center administrator David Garnas said. “It has honestly been one of the easier construction projects I have ever gone through.”
“As a whole, the weather in the spring and summer was horrible,” said Josh Neilson, McCownGordon's superintendent at the job site. “We were getting a lot of water in. But since October, it's been great. We're really excited.”
McCownGordon, a company with extensive experience in building, renovating, and upgrading medical facilities, was selected to provide construction management at-risk services, and as the general contractor when the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the financing request for the construction of the new hospital.
TreanorHL did the design work for the facility and Clark & Enersen are the engineers on the project.
“Talk to anybody we work with that is out there on the project, we did a really good job of picking our general contractor, engineers and architects. It has been very, very smooth and they work well together. And a lot of times that is half of the battle when it comes to construction, having all of those people work together,” Garnas said.
Construction of the hospital began during a global COVID-19 pandemic that has caused supply line issues and rising prices. “In today’s time, with the shortage of workers, shortage of building materials and cost escalations, things are going exceptionally well,” Garnas said.
Garnas credited McCownGordon with being able to manage the sub-contractors and the supply line challenges. Brian Fuemmeler, McCownGordon's market lead, said they've been very fortunate so far. “The supply chain continues to be a concern,” Fuemmeler said. “We benefitted from starting when we did. We ordered early and stored things on-site. If we were to start today it would be a much different story.”
Supply shortages have caused delays all across the country, and the construction industry is no exception, especially for a build as large as the new hospital. McCownGordon's project manager, Witney Henley, was cautiously optimistic. “It's going well, all things considered,” she said. “There's constant price increases. Prices can change in just one day.”
According to Fuemmeler, the hospital will use 760,000 pounds, or 380 tons, of structural steel. There will be 3,500 cubic yards of concrete inside the building and 1,200 cubic yards for site work. Almost 75,000 tons of dirt was imported for the site.
Fuemmeler stated that there will be 6.34 miles of copper pipe (water lines) in the build, and 3.16 miles of HVAC ductwork. There will also be 23 miles of communication lines, 30 miles of conduit, 120 miles of electrical wire, and 78,000 bricks.
Getting local vendors and sub-contractors involved in the project has been a priority during the construction. “It is a community project. We set out to build this for the people versus the people building it for us, so anything we can do, and it has been a focus of ours that anything we can do with local vendors and subs, we wanted to do,” Garnas said. “That just keeps people employed. Keeps our economy flowing and hopefully this is a benefit not only to our patients but also the local businesses.”
Garnas said that not a lot of local sub-contractors have been able to get involved because it is such a big project.
Fuemmeler said the hospital build is having a large economic impact on the town. “We have 75-80 construction workers on-site on any given day,” Fuemmeler said. “Eighty percent of those workers are staying in the Concordia area Monday-through-Friday, and some of them on Saturdays, too, before they return home for the weekend. That's a lot of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and filling gas tanks.”
Fuemmeler also pointed out that the build is helpful for many other local businesses, as well. “We try to source as many materials locally as possible,” he said. “For instance: all of our paint for the facility will be purchased through the local Sherman Williams.”
“The economic impact is terrific,” said Susie Haver, the director of the Cloud County Tourism office. “It’s hard to get a hotel room in Concordia. The increase in Transient Guest Tax (TGT) is a huge plus.”
As Haver explained, in Cloud County, there is a five percent TGT for any lodging, whether it’s a hotel, motel, or bed & breakfast. Informally, the TGT is called the ‘Bed Tax’ and provides all the funding for Cloud County Tourism.
JoDee LeDuc, Cloud County Treasurer, reported that TGT revenue for October, November, and December of 2020 was $23,315.96. In 2021, in the same three months, the TGT revenue was $37,781.99, an increase of almost 60 percent. LeDuc also reported that Cloud County received a February 2022 sales tax payment of $88,167.40, which was 24 percent higher than the payment received in February 2021.
“I can definitely tell that the hospital job has made an impact on Easy G’s business,” said Ty Gennette, co-owner of Easy G Sports Grill on Main Street. “Our sales are way up compared to this time last year. Being in here every day, I see the various contractors dining with us on a daily basis. Our lunch, suppers, weeknights and weekdays are consistently busy.”
Kim Wiesner, the co-owner of Gambino's Pizza, echoed that sentiment. “The hospital build has definitely been good to us on the restaurant side,” she said. “We’ve seen an increase. I have even personally delivered out to the job site.”
Sharon Dykes, the general manager of the local Super 8 hotel, said their occupancy rate has substantially increased during the weekdays. “We’re probably at 75 percent occupancy during the week,” she said. “Not so much on the weekends, because a lot of the workers return home. The difference has been very noticeable for us.”
CCHC's Garnas is at the job site several times a week and is always surprised by how much progress has been made since his prior visit. “It's going exceptionally well,” he said.
“Each week that passes by,” Fuemmeler said, “the building continues to take on a new look.”
Neilson said that they've finished the masonry work on the south elevation of the building, and the brick facing on the north elevation. “We're almost done with all the elevations,” he said. “We're just jumping around with the weather.”
Work is almost completed on the drywall in the basement, and workers are now on the main artery of the building – the section of the building inside the main entrance doors.
Proposals to build a new hospital with local tax support failed in 2008 and in 2013.
The review team that conducted a master site and facility plan process in 2018 did not support the continued use of the current Cloud County Health Center Building for either acute care or outpatient care functions.
In July 2019, Cloud County Health Center administration, with support from Salina Regional Health Center, announced plans to build a new hospital on College Drive without any taxpayer assistance.
In June 2020, it was announced that the USDA application for financing had been approved.
TreanorHL completed the design process on the building late in 2020.
The bid process for the project was completed in January 2021, with 127 bids being received. Construction then began in March 2021.
“McCownGordon and all our trade partners really appreciate the kindness from the folks of Concordia,” Fuemmeler said. “We look forward to delivering a state-of-the-art facility in Concordia.”