Inflationary pressures are continuing to affect both the budgets and timing of a number of planned healthcare projects. Here is a sample of such affected projects since Becker'sreported on similar delays at the end of 2022.
Minneapolis-based Allina Health is delaying its new Cambridge Medical Center amid concerns over rising costs brought about by inflation and hikes in labor and supply expenses, according to a Feb. 9 County News Review report.
The planned replacement hospital about 50 miles north of Minneapolis was originally due to be completed by the spring of 2025 at a cost of $150 million, but a new target date has not been set yet, the report said.
The formerly $164 million expansion project at Mercy Hospital Fort Smith (Ark.) is now going to cost $186 million as increased labor costs and inflationary pressures kick in, according to a Feb. 8 Talk Business report.
Work on the project, which will almost double the hospital's emergency department to 50 rooms and boost the intensive care unit bed numbers to 64 from 38, began a year ago and phase one of the site work, including a new parking lot, is complete, said COO Ryan Geib. But the new budget had to be recently approved because of surging costs.
"Construction costs have skyrocketed due to inflation in the market and labor demands," he said. "Our project was originally valued at $164 million, but we now have an approved construction budget of $186 million, driven primarily by inflation."
Construction costs at the new University of Chicago Medicine cancer hospital have grown 29 percent, from $633 million to $815 million due to design changes and inflation, the Chicago Tribune reported Feb. 15.
The facility planned to house 128 beds, but that number has now slipped to 80. The reduction in beds was due to managing the cost of the project.