(Lincoln City, Ore. – July 29, 2016) Samaritan Health Services announced Friday the selection of the design/build team Skanska and HGA to partner in the planning, design and construction of the new Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital (SNLH).
The selection represents the next step in the agreement between Samaritan and the North Lincoln Health District that resulted in the transfer of the hospital and adjacent properties to Samaritan, which will fund the construction of the new critical access hospital.
Samaritan President/CEO Larry Mullins reviewed the selection process and said he was pleased to see the project moving forward.
“The review process was thorough and inclusive, and the group selected a strong team for this important project,” Mullins said.
Hospital CEO Lesley Ogden, MD, headed the group of 16 hospital and board leaders, physicians and community members who reviewed proposals submitted by four design/build partner firms. On July 8, company representatives made presentations to the review team and answered questions during a daylong session. Firms were evaluated using a rating system that considered variables including each firm’s understanding of the unique aspects of coastal construction, experience with hospital design and construction, ability to meet the requirements of a critical access hospital, and commitment to engaging the broader community in the development process.
“We also looked for a good fit between our organization and these two firms for what will be a major project in our community,” Ogden said. “We feel very good about these firms’ qualifications, experience and ability to design and build a hospital that reflects our collective vision of a best-practice critical access hospital.”
Ogden said the review team decided early in the process to ask architectural firms to select their own construction partner and submit combined proposals for the design and construction of the new hospital.
“These two groups of professionals work very closely together and we wanted to ensure that both firms were involved with the project from the beginning,” Ogden said.
Portland-based Skanska will take the lead as design/builder working with Minneapolis-based design partner HGA Architects and Engineers, which will provide architecture and design services for the project.
“We are excited about the opportunity to work with the North Lincoln community on this project,” said HGA Principal Architect Frank Cedarblade, who is based in the firm’s San Jose office and will play a lead role on the team. “We look forward to combining our nationally recognized healthcare expertise with the unique interests and needs of this community.”
Todd Predmore, a vice president with Skanska, said, “We know we are building a facility of critical importance to the community, and we take that responsibility very seriously.”
Ogden said next steps include the completion of a comprehensive analysis of demographic and program-related information that will help inform design and budget decisions for the new facility. This work is expected to take the remainder of 2016, after which initial design work will begin with input from hospital staff, physicians and community members.
The goal is to complete construction of the new facility by early 2019. Samaritan Health Services is funding the project, with the North Lincoln Hospital Foundation planning a fund drive for selected program enhancements including a healing garden.
“We have also implemented regular meetings to share and exchange information with our colleagues in the Pacific Communities Health District as they continue their own hospital design and planning work for the new hospital in Newport,” Ogden said.
Information and updates about the hospital project can be found online at samhealth.org/NewHospitalLincolnCity.
