PORT TOWNSEND — Phase three of the $20 million construction project at Jefferson Healthcare is proceeding on schedule and within budget.
When work is completed, which is currently expected to happen in late summer 2016, it will result in a new emergency and special services building, which would open later in the year.
“We are hoping it is going to be late next year,” Kate Burke, Jefferson Healthcare marketing manager, said Monday.
“Right now, that seems to be falling into line. The construction project seems to be on track.”
The project is necessary because “our outpatient services are growing rapidly, and we are trying to plan for the future as well as to accommodate the flow of patients right now,” she said.
As part of phase three, “the actual building is going to be erected, so right now they are pouring the foundations and footers for the building,” she said.
“By the end of this month, you will start to see the structural steel go into place. Basically, it is now building versus the last couple of phases, which were . . . getting the building ready to be constructed.”
The work is being performed by Aldrich+Associates of Bothell.
The current phase started last month and continues to affect much of the area alongside Sheridan Street, part of which is expected to remain closed through November 2016.
During this period, all services remain open, and the hospital expects to care for patients without disruption.
When completed, the new 50,000-square-foot building will change access to the hospital, moving the main entrance to the Sheridan Street side.
It will include an expanded emergency department, an orthopedic clinic and an improved and dedicated cardiology services space supporting the latest in cardiac test procedures.
Also planned is a modern cancer-treatment center and infusion-services area where patients will have access to water views while receiving chemotherapy treatment.
A comprehensive women’s imaging center with state of the art 3-D mammography, ultrasound and bone-density scanning equipment is also part of the plan.
The first phase, which began in May, concentrated on moving and upgrading utility lines, construction of new utility services to support the new building and the reconfiguration parking lots on Ninth Street.
The second phase, which included demolition work, began in mid-September and was completed in October, Burke said.
While traffic along Sheridan Street remains open, sidewalks and bike lanes on the east side of the street between Ninth and Seventh streets are closed to through traffic.
“They still have the Jersey barriers up, and that will remain throughout” construction, Burke said.
“There may be a couple of other traffic revisions as they get closer to the completion work.”
On Seventh Street, “there will be some traffic interruptions probably in the next couple of months because they will be doing some sewer work, and that will impact the traffic flows until 2016,” Burke said.
“That is expected in the near future,” she said, but the contractor “hasn’t given us a definitive date.”
And while the kitchen remains closed for expansion and renovations, “we do have our grab-and-go menu still open,” Burke said.
“The front part of the kitchen where the cashier is and where our grab-and-go options are, that is open and so is the cafe seating area.”
Access to the outpatient clinic continues to be through the administration wing, she said.
The north parking lot located near the emergency department “has been completed and is usable, so people can park by the emergency room department if they need those services,” Burke said.
For more information about the project, visit www.JeffersonHealthcare.org/ESSB.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.