Work of Angola hospital likely delayed by economy

By DERRICK GINGERY, Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly
derrickg@fwbusiness.com

The recession has likely forced Cameron Memorial Community Hospital in Angola to delay its expansion project.

Designs for the massive expansion and renovation project had not been created yet. But hospital President and CEO Gregory Burns said officials already are reassessing the time line. Burns said the hospital is not going back on its decision to do the project.

"Given the economy, locally, regionally, statewide, nationally, globally, we're needing to re-evaluate whether we go forward with that planning and that construction as quickly as we might originally have intended to," he said. "We'll probably have a little bit more extended time line than what we had originally planned."

Cameron officials announced in December they planned to expand the hospital at its existing location, ending two years of research and questions about whether the facility would stay in downtown Angola or move to a site near Interstate 69. Hospital officials decided it was best for patients to remain downtown. Cameron also was included as an integral part of the city of Angola's downtown revitalization plan.

About 95 percent of the 25-bed facility will be replaced, but Cameron will remain a federal Critical Access Hospital. One of the newest sections of the building, added in 1995, could be the only portion to remain. Older portions, some dating to the 1950s, likely will be razed because they do not support the latest hospital technology.

Hospital officials also have met with some property owners about purchasing land south of the existing hospital for the project. The amount of land needed has not been determined.

The cost of the expansion has been estimated at $25 million to $30 million. Former hospital CEO Dennis Knapp said during the research process the hospital had been saving money to pay for the project and would issue bonds to raise the necessary funding. A capital campaign through the hospital foundation also would be used to help pay for the project.

Knapp retired last summer. Burns took over as president and CEO in February.

Hospital spokesman Kirk Singer said the delay has nothing to do with the hospital's ability to secure financing. He said it was a decision to be prudent with the hospital's financial resources.

"The decision was not a question of our ability to go forward," Singer said.

Burns said the project delay likely would be months, rather than years. He said the best assessment of the situation came from a local physician, who said the economy will help the hospital decide when construction should commence.

Some work on the project has been done, such as general planning involving "large blocks of space," Burns said.

Fort Wayne-based Morrison Kattman Menze has been retained to help with the preliminary design, but Burns said the firm has not yet done any billable work for Cameron.