Fletcher Allen Health Care has submitted final cost estimates to regulators for a new inpatient facility it hopes to begin constructing in 2015.
The proposed 180,000-square-foot building would include 128 single-occupancy rooms. The seven-story structure would be located on the west side of Fletcher Allen’s property in Burlington above the existing emergency department parking lot.
After having its initial estimate checked by an “independent cost estimator,” the hospital now says the project will cost $187.3 million, $400,000 less than was proposed in the original application.
The estimated construction costs were revised down from $175 million to $174.9 and the estimate of interest payments on the bond needed to finance the construction was reduced from $12.7 million to $12.4 million.
The new cost estimates are the third phase in the hospital’s certificate of need application with the Green Mountain Care Board. The certificate of need process is meant to ensure a thoughtful and reasoned build-out of Vermont’s health care system.
Fletcher Allen, the state’s largest hospital, says the project should get the green light because it won’t increase inpatient capacity, but instead will allow the hospital to close older patient rooms that don’t meet the hospital’s needs.
The Green Mountain Care Board has 90 days to consider the application, a time frame that can be paused in order for the hospital to answer the board’s questions about the project.
