McKenna Harford / mharford@skyhinews.com
As Middle Park Health continues planning for its future in Grand County, it is looking east for its next expansion.
Hospital officials announced at the Middle Park Health Board meeting on Thursday night that they are looking to build a health center and emergency room in the Fraser and Winter Park area.
The new facility would be two stories totalling over 20,000 square feet and featuring a full emergency department, an isolation room, a bereavement room, trauma bays, hospital bays, CT and X-ray technology and a mechanical lab. It would not include a clinic, since Middle Park Health currently has a clinic in Winter Park inside the Cooper Creek shopping center.
To start, the second floor would remain undeveloped with the potential to become more surgery space or an oncology center once funding is available.
“What we feel we needed to move forward with is this,” said Dr. Tom Coburn, who presented the information to the board Thursday. “Right now, we’re starting with a small footprint and going from there.”
According to cost estimates, the new facility would be around $12.5 million, not including land. Currently, Middle Park Health is negotiating to build the facility in Grand Park in Fraser, across Highway 40 from the Cozens Ranch Museum and Rendezvous development.
“The finances of doing this, even without numbers from Winter Park, it makes sense,” Coburn said.
Next, the hospital will conduct a feasibility study and market analysis to submit to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, to qualify for financial assistance with the expansion.
Ultimately, this facility will be one of several expansion projects Middle Park Health is working on, including a new clinic in Grand Lake, a Wellness Center and physical therapy facility in Kremmling, reconstruction of the Middle Park Health – Kremmling campus and expansions to the Middle Park Health – Granby campus.