Old plumbing to be replaced at Weiser Memorial Hospital

By: 
Steve Lyon
A major project to replace outdated and sometimes leaky pipes at Weiser Memorial Hospital could start as soon as Dec. 17. 
A preconstruction meeting on the plumbing replacement project is scheduled for contractor Desert View Construction, subcontractors and hospital officials on Dec. 6. 
The work is needed now, hospital administrators said, noting that the current plumbing is mostly the original main pipes and valves that were put in when the hospital was constructed in the 1950s.
The engineer hired by the hospital to draw up the bid specifications recommended the project be done in two phases. That would make the project easier for contractors to bid on and spread the cost out over a longer timeframe. The total cost of the plumbing upgrades is estimated at more than $700,000.
After hearing an update on plans from CEO Steve Hale, hospital board members voted last week to move forward with phase one of the project.
“I think this is something that we need to do,” board chairman Randy Hibberd said.
Phase 1 will include replacing all the major pipes, main trunk lines and valves in the 60-year-old plumbing system. Over the past few years, the hospital has had to deal with leaks in the system, officials said, and replacing the major components should resolve those issues, along with inproving the pressure and flow.
“This will address the main areas that we have leakage,” Hale said.
The second phase is less time sensitive and will include water heaters, water softeners and other miscellaneous parts of the plumbing system. The board did not take any action on that portion of the project and no start date has been determined.
The hospital received only one contractor bid on phase one and that bid came in at about $380,000. Phase two is estimated to cost about the same amount, although the hospital has not received any bids yet.
The scope of work in phase one will require the contractor to go through concrete and the foundation to access the main lines on the west side of the building. Efforts will be made to minimize disruptions and keep the construction noise down, but some noise will be unavoidable, Hale said.
The timeframe on completing phase one is 90-120 days and there is the potential that there could be some short water outages at the facility during construction. 
Two substantial grants from foundations that totaled $275,000 and were received in August will be used to pay for most of phase one of the plumbing project. The grants included $25,000 from the Ashgrove Charitable Fund and $250,000 from the Sunderland Foundation.  
In addition, hospital officials said they expect to pay the rest of the project costs out of hospital funds, including some $500,000 in Medicare cost report appeals that are anticipated over the next six months to one year. The recent Festival of Trees fundraiser will contribute to the plumbing project.
Hale said there may be other grant opportunities out there for the hospital to pursue to help pay for the plumbing project.

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18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
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