Holy Family Hospital says its set to begin work on a big expansion and renovation project that will include construction of a centralized ambulatory-services area and a four-story medical-office building, part of which will be developed separately.


The hospital estimates the total cost of the earlier-announced project at $35.8 million, including $19.5 million for its portionup about $3.5 million from a previous estimateand $16.3 million for the portion developed separately.


The 107,600 square feet of new space will be located on the north side of the Holy Family campus in an area bordered by the hospitals main outpatient entrance, cancer center, and outpatient surgery. It will connect to those buildings, filling in an open area where there currently is landscaping, sidewalks, and some parking.


Northwest Architectural Co., of Spokane, designed the project, and Bouten Construction Co., also of Spokane, will be the general contractor. A ground-breaking ceremony was slated for late this week, and the expansion is expected to be completed in the fall of 2007.


The project is to include construction of 26,000 square feet of additional space on the main floor of the hospital and a 7,000-square-foot partial basement expansion, plus renovation of about 8,500 square feet of hospital space.


Three floors of office space are to be constructed above the expansion. Thats one more floor than was envisioned earlier, but plans call for just the shell of the top floor to be constructed, pending a determination of need for that space.


The hospital is working on the project with NexCore Group LP, a Denver-based company that has experience in developing and managing collaboratively owned health-care properties.


Holy Family will own the space it occupies, and NexCore will own the upper floors, at least initially, possibly with other investors, and will be responsible for managing space on those floors.


The expansion has been designed to consolidate pre- and post-surgical services in one area, thus reducing patient confusion and walking distances, and improving overall efficiency of the hospitals outpatient services, says Tom Corley, Holy Family president.


Also, the renovation portion of the project will allow for the addition of two operating rooms and will provide added space for the hospitals cancer center.


We think its critically important that we expand our surgical services, modernize, and expand, as well as have all of our ambulatory services on the same side of the hospital, Corley says.


Another goal, he says, is to provide office space to physicians who want convenient access to their patients who need hospital services. Physicians there will be able to have an ownership interest in the complex if they choose.


Of the overall project, Corley says, I think its just a tremendous convenience and provides a whole lot more efficiency for both patients and doctors.


The planned expansion represents the second and final phase of a project the hospital launched five years ago.


The first phase cost about $28 million and included construction of a much larger emergency center and a quadrupling of the size of the hospitals imaging center.


Contact Kim Crompton at (509) 344-1263 or via e-mail at kimc@spokanejournal.com.