Riverton Medical District to share design plans
By Sarah Elmquist Squires
Managing Editor
They’ve got the land, they’ve amassed the needed $54 million it will take, and now the Riverton Medical District has the design plans for the new hospital that will be erected in the Eastern Shoshone Business Park. They will be unveiled to the public during an open house scheduled for next Tuesday, March 7, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., at Reach, 622 North Eighth West.
The designs and floor plans have been blown up into giant images for community members to peruse. The engineering designs were done by Erdman of Madison, Wis., and will help the public visualize the vision that’s been in the works for years.
Community members are welcome to stop in and check out the designs and ask questions any time during the open house. A brief update on the new hospital will be given at 6:30 p.m. “It’s an opportunity that we would like to take to engage the community and bring them up-to-date” on hospital plans, Riverton Medical District Board member Vivian Watkins said of the meeting.
The Riverton Medical District is a community-led effort to bring state-of-the-art health care to Fremont County, and the new building is expected to break ground as soon as the snow melts this spring. Twelve acres have been secured in the business park, and will provide for future growth, too.
Now that designs are complete, construction subcontracting bids are expected to be let. Sampson Construction of Cheyenne will handle construction using a “construction management at-risk” process, with local subcontractors for all but the most technical aspects expected to be used.
Late last year, the district announced it had secured the needed $54 million for the new hospital, including a Wyoming Loan and Investment Board $10 million grant, as well as a $37 million low-interest USDA Rural Development Community Facility loan – the largest such award in the state’s history.