County commissioners assured hospital officials they’ll find a place to store boxes of old records – and soon — and expressed enthusiasm for the group’s plans to remodel a medical arts building.
Three members of the Allen County Regional Hospital facilities board met with commissioners Tuesday for an update on their plans.
The hospital is leased to Saint Luke’s Health System, but the county still owns all the buildings and must maintain and upgrade them as a landlord.
The facilities group wants to remodel a medical arts building on Madison Street near G & W Foods, and move its health clinic into the space.
“We see that as an asset the county owns, and we need to try to bring this thing back to life,” Terry Sparks, chairman of the facilities board, told commissioners.
“Our hope from the beginning was to move the South Washington Street clinic to that building, but it’s gotten more complicated.”
He outlined the group’s basic plan: Spruce up the outside of the building by modernizing its appearance and fixing a drooping canopy, repair parking and convert an unused parking lot to green space; replace the HVAC system; inside, move walls to create clinic rooms, replace ceiling tiles and make cosmetic repairs with paint and floor coverings.
But first, they need to remediate mold in the basement. Boxes of old medical and financial records contain the worst of the mold, so they need to be wrapped in plastic, moved and stored elsewhere.
Sparks initially thought the remodel would take about $150,000 to $200,000. Now, he thinks it will be closer to $400,000.
Commissioners asked if that meant the group is abandoning plans to build a medical arts building on the hospital campus, which has long been a priority for many members of the community.
The answer is yes, for now.
The group looked into costs to build a new facility, and learned it will be at least $4 million. That prompted them to look at the current remodel effort, especially since they are investing about $800,000 into another remodel at the hospital to create a specialty clinic.
Commissioners agreed it made sense to fix up the existing facilities first. Perhaps the county and hospital will be in a position to build something in the future.
SAINT Luke’s puts emphasis on the physical environment of all buildings it operates in, Sparks said.
A contractor affiliated with Saint Luke’s said costs to remediate the mold could be as high as $80,000, but that would include securely wrapping the records and keeping them in the basement.
Costs could be reduced by using a local contractor and moving the records to another location.
Sparks said a local company is going to view the facilities and see if they can handle the work, which must meet specific guidelines.
