New Hospital Nears Finish, $1M Under Budget

The new Olney Hamilton Hospital is beginning to look less like a construction project and more like the hospital that will soon replace the community’s aging medical facility.

OHH board members got an up-close look at that transformation Aug. 28, when they adjourned their regular meeting, gathered near the helipad and walked across to the construction site for a hard-hat tour of the nearly completed $33 million hospital.

Just before the tour, Dave Lilley, project manager and CEO of Trinity Hughes Construction, delivered welcome news during the board’s annual budget-andtax meeting. He said he could state with an “incredibly high degree of certainty” that the project will finish under budget — with the final savings likely approaching $1 million.

“It really is gonna be near to that $1 million underneath budget, and so don’t spend it all in one place,” he told the board. “There’s gonna be a- It’s pretty large ... a surplus.”

The board was discussing potential dates in October for a ribbon cutting after construction crews move out, but Mr. Lilley cautioned directors against setting an exact moving date yet.

“Now the time to really begin coordinating with the actual hospital staff has come, and we’ve begun some of that,” Mr. Lilley said. “The communication has begun to increase, and the presence of different people here on site has begun to increase.”

The hospital must still pass a series of city, county and state inspections, culminating with an inspection by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Before the state gives its approval, virtually everything needed to operate the hospital must be installed and functioning — from beds, X-ray and laboratory equipment down to linens and basic medical supplies, he said.

When state inspectors sign off, Mr. Lilley said, their expectation is that the building is capable of functioning as a hospital from that moment forward.

The anticipated transition remains centered around Dec. 1, although Mr. Lilley said the actual move could occur several days before or after that date.

“Maybe it’ll be November 27th, maybe it’ll be December the 5th,” he said. “We’re operating inside of a window now that we can pretty well identify.”

The move itself will require careful coordination among medical staff, administration and construction personnel because the old and new facilities cannot simultaneously operate as the licensed hospital. The transition likely will occur late at night or around midnight, Mr. Lilley said.

Much of the building’s infrastructure is already operating. The permanent HVAC system is online and most of the building’s complex mechanical systems are functioning.

“It’s become a machine now, and before it was just a building,” Mr. Lilley said.

The finishing work is increasingly visible as well.

Colors are on the walls, lighting and flooring has been installed and some cabinetry is in place. Mr. Lilley said the building has reached the point where visitors can walk through and visualize what the finished hospital will look like.

“It now looks like a hospital,” he said.

Board member Carl Craig praised Mr. Lilley and the construction team, saying he could not remember the last time he saw a project of this size come in under budget and ahead of schedule.

Mr. Lilley credited the late OHH Administrator Michael Huff with establishing firm financial boundaries from the beginning. The tour came days after Mr. Huff died at Olney Hamilton Hospital, and a day before his family held a memorial across the street from the new hospital.

“Mr. Huff was adamant from the very first time I conversed with him about this,” Mr. Lilley said. “This is how much money we have, and so whatever we do has to be done for this amount of money.”