Growth in Nome: the new hospital will provide huge economic impact to region.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: BUILDING ALASKA

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The new Norton Sound Regional Hospital, scheduled to break ground this summer, will be the largest building in Nome and the most expensive construction project in the history of the community and the 44,000-square-mile Bering Strait Region.

Estimated to be complete between 2013 and 2015, the $140 million, 150,000-square-foot facility on By-Pass Road will replace the existing hospital owned by the Norton Sound Health Corp. and will serve inpatient and outpatient health care needs of the 5,500 people in the region's 15 villages, including 3,500 Nome residents. Funded by Indian Health Services (IHS) and the Denali Commission, the facility includes an outpatient clinic, 18 inpatient rooms, including two labor and delivery suites, and a 15-bed long-term care center. Comprehensive services include optometry, radiology, audiology, dental, physical and respiratory therapy and behavioral health. There will also be a pharmacy, laboratory and specialty clinics, and all administrative and support services will be housed in the facility. When completed, the new hospital will also add a CT scanner and ambulatory care.

The design combines a primary care clinic on one end of the building and a hospital on the other. A gate will separate the two sections of the building allowing the lights to be turned off and heat turned down in the portion that is not being used at night. The highest use areas will be...