“We’re excited that families from all over the nation will come here for therapy,” she said. “They may need to stay in the area for four to six weeks and will need places to stay and other amenities.”
“This is a huge project and a huge undertaking by the medical center,” said Maura Moran, the hospital’s assistant vice president for real estate. “Our three-story hospital building will be going to four floors and will make it look finished.”
Moran said the $44 million expansion of the main hospital building that will add 28 more inpatient beds on a new fourth floor, will also include adding a kitchen, expanding the pharmacy and laboratories and more storage space. She said the helipad will be fenced in to help catch debris, and the medical center’s parking lots will be expanded to the west of the property. The hospital expansion project is expected to be completed in 2015 and when it is completed, it has been estimated that 60 new jobs will be created, she said.
The proton therapy center will be in a two-story, 80,000 square-foot building, she said. Currently, there are 11 such centers in the nation with the closest one located in Indianapolis, Moran said.
Moran told the board that construction crews will work around traffic at the adjacent Lakota East High School.
In other business, the board approved its permanent appropriations budget through the end of the district’s fiscal year on June 30. Treasurer Jenni Logan said the district has been operating on a temporary appropriations budget since July.
The permanent appropriations budget will be nearly $188.9 million of which $144.6 million will come from the general fund, Logan said. The general fund accounts for 81 percent of the district’s budget.
Logan said the district can modify the permanent appropriations budget as needed during the fiscal year.
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