GRAND FORKS — The future of health care in Grand Forks is starting to take shape.
Work on the new $475 million Altru Hospital is moving along as planned. If construction stays on schedule, the new hospital will start seeing patients in early 2025.
“Seeing the project moving again, and making progress and what it means for this community is hard to put into words,” said principal architect Josh Kehrwald.
After COVID-19 halted construction and forced a redesign, work on the new 7-story Altru Hospital is back on schedule.
The new hospital will increase its number of beds compared to the current hospital from 200 to 220, while the emergency department will also have a bigger footprint, going from 22 beds to 30.
Ways that the staff can be more efficient, ways the whole experience for the patient can be more efficient and creating an environment that is less stressful for staff, less stressful for the patients,” Kehrwald said.
Upper-level floors will see more dramatic changes. The number of operating rooms will increase from 11 to 16, and a total new design for the 50 prep and recovery rooms.
“It’s setup private rooms so everyone is kind of lined up in a bay, in the new hospital all of prep and recovery is going to be private rooms so you can have those private conversations with your provider, have your private conversations with your family,” Kehrwald said.
New technology will of course be featured, but so will nature. The new hospital will focus on more natural light and green space.
“Some water features, green spaces, some place for patients, staff etcetera, for them to go and kind of have a respite from if you are a patient, or family member from what they might be dealing with,” said Altru CEO Todd Forkel.
The price of the new hospital has increased about $75 million over the past estimates. Forkel says that was planned for and that the new Altru will serve the needs of a growing Grand Forks for decades to come.
“We believe this facility will serve the needs for the next 50 to 75 years,” Forkel said.
