Flood-damaged Columbus hospital reassessing expansion

A planned $108 million expansion project at a central Indiana hospital is being reassessed after it was delayed because of extensive flooding damage in 2008 that forced the hospital to close for about five months.

Columbus Regional Hospital administrators are considering whether it needs the planned 60 additional private inpatient rooms that were to be part of the new five-story pavilion. It has seen a decline in its number of inpatients and an increase in outpatients.

"Before we use our funds on a $108 million building project, we want to understand what the future holds. And, what can we afford," Jim Bickel, the hospital's president and chief operating officer, told The Republic for a story Sunday.

The hospital used much of its $150 million in cash reserves — which was intended for the expansion — to pay and retain staff members after the June 2008 flood. That reserve has since grown back to about $132 million, according to hospital officials.

The hospital's patient volume has changed because of the economy and advances in surgical technology, said Lynne Maguire, its vice president and chief strategy officer

A larger emergency department remains a primary need since the current one was built to handle 25,000 inpatient visits a year, but it expects 40,000 this year, Maguire said.

Maguire said the hospital in the city about 40 miles south of Indianapolis is having a study conducted about patient needs and hopes to have it completed early next year.

The hospital faced $178 million in damage from the flooding of its first floor and basement, which forced its evacuation and closure. That flooding came from a severe storm that hit much of central and southern Indiana.

Besides the expansion project, the hospital is waiting to begin construction of a flood wall aimed at preventing future damage.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency supports the project and would pay the entire cost of $6.9 million. However, FEMA is still reviewing revisions of an original proposal, Bickel said.

A fixed, concrete wall would extend around parts of the hospital campus and include underground flood gates at the two primary entrances.

The goal is to have the flood wall constructed by the end of 2011, hospital facilities director Steve Thomas said.

As IBJ reported last month, Columbus Regional is suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency in an attempt to recover $17.1 million in federal funds the hospital claims it is owed due to damages caused by the flood. The suit, filed Sept. 15 in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, accuses FEMA of violating federal regulations, negligence and misrepresentation for failing to pay the full amount the hospital says it is owed.