WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) - A $36 million construction project to expand and renovate the Waverly Health Center is ahead of schedule, despite the coronavirus pandemic and tariffs on some construction materials, officials in the northeastern Iowa city said.
The second phase of the project is underway, just months after the mid-May groundbreaking, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported. The second phase will add 31,000 square feet to the facility, including a new emergency department, a large family practice clinic and outpatient area. The addition is expected to be enclosed by Thanksgiving, and employees area expected to move by this time next year, according to Heidi Solheim, the center’s chief operating officer.
The third phase will renovate 40,000 square feet of the current emergency department and support staff areas into a new general surgery clinic, orthopedic clinic and other outpatient services.
The $36 million project will be paid for with federal and private bank loans, fundraising and hospital reserves.
“We’ve been working a bit ahead of schedule, which is surprising with the tariffs and pandemic,” Solheim said. “And, knock on wood, we’re on budget.”
Solheim said the public phase of the hospital’s fundraising has so far raised $1.6 million of the $2 million goal.
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