Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
THE ADDITION to Aspirus Grand View Hospital begins to take shape as seen Thursday. The $16 million dollar structure was started last November and is on schedule to be completed by Nov. 9. Along with an additional 63 patient rooms, the building will also house family medicine, cardiology and cancer care services.
By TOM STANKARD
Ironwood - The health care clinic complex at Aspirus Grand View Hospital is beginning to take shape.
Aspirus spokesperson David Sim said the construction is one-third complete. Construction of the $16 million, 42,000-square-foot complex began last November and is expected to be completed on Nov. 9.
"Construction made it through the winter with the project completely on schedule," Sim said.
Since breaking ground, Sim said Miron Construction, the general contractor, has made "a lot" of progress.
"Site excavation and foundation work are fully complete," he said. "The vast majority of structural steel has been placed, so the outline of the future complex can be seen. It's very exciting to recognize from the renderings," he said.
Moving forward, Sim said the next objective is to make the building weather-tight so interior work can begin. He said plumbing, concrete pours for flooring and roofing, exterior framing and structural steel are being tackled, scheduled to be completed around the middle of May.
As long as it continues to stay warm, Sim said the winter has been really favorable for construction.
During the winter, Sim said the construction crew had to work through a couple of rough weeks of heavy snow and cold. But overall, it's been a shorter winter than normal.
"This winter, there really wasn't anything that wasn't expected," Sim said. "The main concern is always ensuring the safety of the construction team, which during the winter works during extremely cold and windy days. There were a few days that were cut short because of weather, but the team has been able to catch back up."
Sim said the construction crew experienced "some initial challenges" with navigation because it had to redirect where patients enter the clinic.
"As a team, Aspirus has done our best to make it easy to access both the hospital and the Ironwood clinic," he said.
The biggest challenge remaining, Sim said, is the winter melt. He said they are trying their best to control the water and mud, but it has not been easy because of how quickly everything is melting.
Aspirus has implemented a shuttle van that can bring patients from the clinic to the hospital and has a parking attendant in the clinic lot who can assist people with parking challenges and in answering navigation questions.
"Our patients have been extremely understanding as construction has continued, and we really appreciate it," Sim said.
When completed, Sim said the complex will house a variety of services under one roof, including family medicine, cardiology, therapies, surgeons, cancer care and other services.
Inside, there will be 63 patient rooms, 29 provider offices, a high-tech community meeting room and a coffee-gift shop.
With the new facility, Paula Chermside, GVH Chief Operating Officer, said the medical team and staff can "continue to grow."
