The opening of a new Boone Memorial Hospital is still years away. But hospital Administrator Tommy Mullins says things are moving fast.
The total cost of the project is $34.3-million. The hospital board has to come up with $2.5-million. And they’ve received approval for a $31.8-million loan from the USDA. Now it’s time to fill out all the paperwork the federal government requires in order to get that cash.
“It is massive. It is probably 6-8 inches of paperwork we’ll end up with and three months getting it prepared,” says Mullins.
Boone Memorial is badly in need of a new building. Everyone knew it. It was just a matter of finding the money to do it. Mullins says the community is behind the project 100-percent.
“The out pour from the community has been fantastic. All of them said ‘Well, it’s about time,’ ‘It took you long enough,’ ‘You finally made it.’ We just can’t wait to see the new building.
Architects are currently working on the schematics for the new hospital. The goal is to break ground sometime late summer 2013. Once that’s complete, Mullins says they still have a lot of work to do.
“I am told that once ground is broken, that the bricks and mortar is about 18 months,” according to Mullins.
Then there’s the job of moving all the equipment into the new facility, tearing down the old hospital and building a new parking lot.
Mullins hopes to be in the new hospital no later than Christmas of 2015 or early 2016.