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.
Overall, the hospital will be 31,000-square-feet more than originally planned and have seven floors instead of five. Much of the extra space will be left empty for future needs.
"It's a balance of what we can afford at this time and providing a substantial amount of beds," Marco Capicchioni, vice president for cancer center projects for UChicago Medicine, told the Tribune.