LARNED — The Pawnee County Commission has chosen Murray Company, Overland Park, to be the construction firm for the $18 million Pawnee Valley Community Hospital.
Murray Company has done work for the Hays Medical Center, Rush County Medical Hospital in LaCrosse and the Kiowa County Medical Hospital in Greensburg. 
Pawnee Valley Community Hospital is using “construction management at risk,” (CMR) described as a project delivery process where a contractor is engaged by the owner during the design process to assist in pre-construction project management support services, and then acts as a general contractor during the construction process. The process offers a “guaranteed maximum price,” for the project.
Pawnee County commissioners Donna Pelton, Kathy Bowman and John Haas, were joined at the recent selection meeting by David Wright, Health Facilities Group vice president; Mark Crane, Health Facilities Group associate; John Jeter, HaysMed president and CEO; Dale Montgomery, HaysMed vice president support services; Shae Veach, HaysMed vice president regional operations; Matt Heyn, PVCH administrator; Marlene Winter, PVCH director of nursing; and John Settle, Pawnee County attorney. The Health Facilities Group is the architectural firm for PVCH.
Murray Company’s project is represented by Bill Collins; Philip Schultze, principal; Sheldon Streeter, project developer; Mike Goering, project manager; and Steve Underwood, superintendent.
Bowman said Murray received the top rating, ahead of J.E. Dunn Construction and Hutton Construction. The proposals were rated on various factors, including qualifications, financial strength, construction experience, references and CMR fees.
Proposed CMR fees are $992,825 for Murray. Proposed fees were $1.25 million for Hutton and $1.58 million for J.E. Dunn. 
“We were excited with all three companies we met with,” Bowman said. “On our points system, Murray rated the best,” Bowman said. “Their fees were cheaper. But we would have been excited to work with any of the firms.”
Bowman said Murray Company officials will continue planning on the project in the upcoming months and meet with key hospital personnel to insure everything is planned properly.
“It’s important to make the right decisions,” she said. “They will work with the hospital to make sure everything is situated just right.”
Bowman said the Pawnee Valley Community Hospital project received strong interest. Bowman said officials from the Hays Medical Center helped publicize the need for proposals.
“The Hays Medical Center staff helped put the word out,” Bowman said. “The people at the Hays Medical Center have been great to work with.”    
The Construction Management at Risk method has been popular to build large public facilities such as schools and hospitals.