Bids under budget on Salem Township Hospital OR/ER renovations
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Work on $15 million project expected to start this fall
By DENNIS ROSENBERGER
stceditor@salemtc.net
As Salem Township Hospital (STH) gets ready to begin work on its expansion and renovation of the Surgical and Emergency departments later this year, hospital officials received some good news last week as bids for the project came in well under budget.
Hospital CEO James Timpe reported to the STH Board on Wednesday, July 30, that the bid came in at just over $15 million, which is significantly lower than the $17 million budget that had been set for the expansion and renovation work.
Timpe explained that Shores Builders, of Centralia, will be overseeing the project and will be working with a number of other vendors and subcontractors over the course of the construction period.
James Timpe
“This is great news. We were budgeted for $17 million for construction and right now it looks like we’re going to be just over $15 million for the budget,” Timpe said, noting that the budget could increase some if there are any needed changes during the project.
“But hopefully, we can come in right on that ($15 million mark) and save the hospital money,” he said.
Timpe explained that work on the expansion and renovation project will get under way this fall and should be completed in late 2026 or early 2027. While most of the work will take place inside the current hospital building, he noted that there will be new construction of a 2,500-square-foot addition onto the rear of the hospital, with sterile processing for the Surgical Department to be moved into that addition.
He added that the overall project will expand both the Surgical Department, adding new operating rooms (OR), as well as adding more beds to the emergency room (ER) to better serve the needs of the Salem community.
“We are going to be expanding our OR’s from two rooms to four rooms and our ER from six beds to eight beds,” Timpe explained. “And, of course, we will be modernizing both of those areas, as well.”
A new canopy for the ambulance entrance at the ER will also be included in the project.
In other discussion at the hospital board meeting, STH Chief Financial Officer Amy Gray provided an update on charity care provided by Salem Township Hospital to community residents during the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Gray reported that through the first three months of the fiscal year, the hospital has provided charity care totaling $984,000.
“Charity care is the care that we give to folks who cannot afford their share of the care they receive, and they can apply for that … and the hospital basically forgives their bill,” Timpe explained.
He added that charity care is much needed in order to ensure that people in the community are able to access the care that they need.
“It’s needed because people have different economic levels in the community and we want to make sure everyone gets great care,” he said.
Timpe noted that the amount of charity care forgiven through the first quarter of the fiscal year is in line with what the hospital has seen in the past, explaining that the total amount of charity care provided by Salem Township Hospital during the last fiscal year was around $4 million.
