When Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley swung by Orr Elementary School in Washington, D.C., recently, he explained to the 100 kids circled around him that he’d already exercised that day.FORT WAYNE – An Angola hospital has tapped Fort Wayne-based firms to design and build its new facility, projected to cost $40 million.
Cameron Memorial Community Hospital on Wednesday announced architecture firm Morrison, Kattman & Menze and construction company Hagerman Inc. have won a competitive process to work on the estimated 130,000-square-foot project that will include 25 patient beds in private rooms.
“It’s a very exciting time for us,” Cameron President and CEO Greg Burns said in a phone interview after a morning news conference.
The hospital committed 18 months ago to stay in Angola’s downtown with its next building project. Cameron anchors downtown on the east, and Trine University anchors it on the west. To expand the campus to more than 13 acres, the hospital acquired 18 nearby homes.
The independent, non-profit hospital’s board has decided to build a new hospital and renovate a portion of the current building. Cameron will also erect a medical office building that will be attached to the new hospital. The current medical office building, which holds doctors’ offices, and the remainder of the existing hospital will be demolished.
Hospital officials and the architects will spend the summer deciding how many square feet each department should be allotted and where they should be placed.
The Regional Cancer Care Center, which will continue operating in a separate building, is not included in the 130,000-square-foot estimate. The hospital now has 25 beds in about 100,000 square feet.
The board will decide in the fall whether to break ground on construction this year or wait until the economy improves.
Burns acknowledges that a $40 million hospital construction project by itself could help drive some economic recovery. The price estimate doesn’t include the cost of the new medical office building, medical equipment or furniture, he said.
Cameron Hospital’s role as one of the area’s largest employers has “a huge economic impact” on Steuben County, Burns said. The hospital employs about 430 full and part time. Revenue last year was $63 million.
Expanding and updating the hospital could attract more business, Burns said.
Hospital officials want to build three operating rooms larger than they have now to allow for more equipment and more complex surgeries, including joint replacements, he said. The facility is not intended to provide more sophisticated care, such as heart transplants.
Ron Menze, the lead architect, said hospital officials have asked him to capture a small-town feel while allowing for updated technology and focusing on outpatient care in the new building.
“There is an art and a skill to that, so you don’t plan it too big,” he said.
