LARNED –Pawnee Valley Community Hospital Administrator Matt Heyn has released an update to the Pawnee County Health Organization Communications Task Force on the most recent developments on the new hospital project.
The Pawnee County Commission established a Public Building Commission in March with the authority to seek financing alternatives for public buildings and facilities within the county, including the new replacement hospital. The county commissioners further appointed Tom Giessel, Tim George and Dick King to the newly established PBC.
The PBC is considering two bonding companies — UMB, Kansas City, Mo. and Piper Jaffray, Lenexa — for financing the proposed $18 million Pawnee Valley Community Hospital.
“With the establishment of the Public Building Commission, we are now able to move forward in obtaining the necessary bonds to finance the construction,” he said. “We want to join our fellow Pawnee County citizens in thanking these three men, all of whom graciously accepted their appointments to the PBC when asked to serve.”
Heyn said the county commission has helped move this process along in a timely manner.
“They also conducted thorough evaluations of the contractors bidding on the construction management component of this project,” he said. “After narrowing it down to a short list of three contractors, they named Murray Company of Overland Park as the construction manager.”
Heyn said the Health Facilities Group architects are in the process of finalizing draft documents of exterior and interior floor plans and creating a 3-D architectural rendering of the new facility.
“As you can see, there is a lot going on behind the scenes right now in preparation for the actual construction work,” he said. “No additional taxpayer dollars will be required for any of these activities.”
The present location was approved by the Pawnee County Commission in December after evaluation of four additional off-site locations either did not meet various size or access requirements, or would have incurred several million dollars in additional cost for land acquisition, site preparation, utility services and other expenses. The choice of the current hospital location also allows continued use of the new clinic building adjacent to the hospital.