YOUR AD HERE »

Engineers developing infrastructure plans for TMH

Joshua Roberts

With more than $5 million available, officials from The Memorial Hospital think they have enough money to pay for infrastructure at the site of a proposed new facility.

Paying for the new hospital building — an amenity with no price tag as of yet — is a different matter.

For the past month, engineers from Westminster-based Diversified Consultant Solutions have been working at the new hospital site, 15 acres of remote land west of Shadow Mountain Village. Colorado Northwestern Community College owned the land until late June, when the college and the hospital reached an agreement dedicating the property for the new hospital.



The engineers’ work falls in line with the hospital’s current place in the development process — putting information together for submitting a preliminary plat to the city. The city has already signed off on the hospital’s conceptual plan for the infrastructure, said Ron Danner, chairman of the hospital building committee.

There is no timetable for when the hospital will submit a preliminary plat for the city to consider, and Danner said it is likely that construction of the infrastructure — roads, sewers and utilities — won’t begin until spring.



The hospital estimates the infrastructure could cost anywhere from $2 million to $3 million. Several funding sources will contribute to the infrastructure improvements, Danner said.

The Department of Local Affairs has pledged to contribute $1 million to the project. Under its land agreement with CNCC, which will have rights to use the future hospital for health care education, the college also agreed to chip in $750,000 toward the cost.

And, nearly $3.4 million sits in the hospital’s building fund, Danner said.

The funding mechanism for the new hospital is less certain.

With no size and scope of the potential new building, it’s impossible to know how much a new facility would cost. A master plan for a new hospital, completed five years ago, called for a 53,000-square-foot building.

The current hospital entails about 70,000 square feet.

Danner said hospital finances would dictate the dimensions of the new facility.

“Funding influences what we can build,” he said. “The focus is on getting financing to the point where we can sit down and talk about what we can afford.”

Danner said the continued improved finances at the hospital would help strengthen the hospital’s ability to secure financing.

“We’re not going to building something we can’t pay for,” he said. “Things are improving. We’re starting to show some consistency on the bottom line, and that’s what it takes.”


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Craig and Moffat County make the Craig Press’ work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.