New Hospital Takes Shape

Progress on the new Olney Hamilton Hospital is beginning to take shape, with project manager Dave Lilley of Skiles Group telling the hospital’s board of directors on July 25 that construction will soon become visibly noticeable.

“The footings have been poured. All the concrete will be on the ground, and some of the building will come up commencing Aug. 18,” Mr. Lilley said. “Although these dates float along, there will be a building that pops up out of the ground.”

Mr. Lilley said contractors expect to pour concrete in the coming weeks, with steel erection beginning around Aug. 19. He added that Fort Belknap Electric Cooperative is preparing to install electrical poles, paving the way for HVAC, steel framing, and other major components. Despite delays from May’s fatal accident at the site and recent heavy rains, construction is only running 10 to 12 days behind schedule, and completion remains set for late August 2026.

The project remains on budget and is currently $450,000 below estimated costs. “It’s still early, but we’re about to turn the corner and do fun stuff— furnishings, logos, and interior materials,” Mr. Lilley said. He showed the board several preliminary logo designs and urged members to take their time deciding on the logo that will appear on the building, on scrubs and promotional materials. “This has raised an opportunity to rebrand,” he said. “This is too good an opportunity to pass up.”

Lilley noted that the construction teams have avoided cost impacts from recent federal tariffs by sourcing materials creatively. “They are gathering up materials from creative sources… there was a lot of material lying around,” he said.

Mayor Rue Rogers also addressed the board, updating them on several permitting issues between the hospital and the City of Olney.

Mayor Rogers said the city was taking care of three open items for the new project, in- cluding a title transfer from the old hospital to the OHH hospital district.

The deed now only covers two-thirds of the property, and City Attorney Bill Myers was working on correcting it, he said.

The second issue was a special use permit that allows the new hospital to be built in a residential zone. That proposal has been presented to the City’s planning and zoning committee, which is expected to consider the application at an Aug. 11 meeting.

The committee is expected to approve the special use permit, and to hand it on to the City Council for approval at its Aug. 11 meeting later that day, he said. The City must hold a public hearing on the matter with 15 days notice, he said.

The City Council will resolve the final issue - a request by the new hospital for encroachment on the city’s right of way - after a public hearing.

The OHH board is asking to build the new hospital will be built closer to the street than the 15-foot setback prescribed by city ordinance,

he said.

The Council will vote on the encroachment on Aug. 26, he said. “There is no conflict, it’s just timing,” he told the OHH board. He cautioned that the public was under the misapprehension that West Hamilton Street would be narrowed - it will not, he said.

“It goes from a 15foot setback to a five foot setback,” he said.

He assured the OHH board that the City Council was working through the bureaucracy of getting the permits finalized legally, and as quickly as possible.

“We are partners in it. We are excited about the new hospital,” he said. “We are gonna get there. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”