Groundbreaking set for Sept. 21 on Chubbuck medical center
In December of 2017, it was announced that a new medical campus would be built in Chubbuck.
Groundbreaking for phase one of that medical campus is set to start this month.
The city council meeting discussed part of the plans moving forward at Wednesday night’s city council meeting.
The council had to decide whether to approve the final division one short platt for the project, which means basically approving the boundaries and design of one of the buildings. Wednesday night’s design had a few changes from the original. The dialysis center was expanded a little in size, and also rotated 90 degrees, which changed the needed boundary lines. For legal reasons, the city approved the original boundaries, with the option of making minor changes to the building. But any significant changes would have to go back to the council for approval.
In discussion about the approval, representatives helping on the project, said this shouldn’t slow the project down at all.
Originally, construction was set to start in the spring of 2018, with phase one being completed by 2019.
Dr. Rahim, who is spearheading the project, said the process has just been slower than they thought.
Things like getting permits, applications, finding the right partners have all pushed it back a little.
Now, groundbreaking is set for this month and construction set to start soon after that.
“We plan to start construction of phase one within the next 30 to 40 days – by mid-October,” Rahim said. “Phase one will include a big dialysis unit and facility and kidney and heart diseases offices and a medical office building. We are hoping by the time phase one is complete in two years, we can house at least 40 to 45 doctors who will provide service to those facilities.”
Rahim said he wants to build a center like this so that people can have a choice when it comes to healthcare – they’re not left with just one choice.
The campus will be built on a 20-acre plot of land on Knudsen Boulevard. Mayor England said this med center will mean city growth and will also fill a community need.
“This truly is the future of health care,” England said. “This will be a groundbreaking opportunity for our community to recognize that there is a different direction that it’s taking and this particular campus will be set up for that direction. It will be much more physician controlled, as well as, they’re talking about letting the community come in and have a little bit of control as to what happens in their community. This is something that really hasn’t been the case with healthcare in the past so I’m excited.”
The groundbreaking for phase one is set for Sept. 21. Rahim said more details will be released soon about the groundbreaking, but that he wants as many people in the community as possible to attend.
Phase two will start construction after phase one is complete. Phase two includes focusing on women’s health, pediatrics, in-patient care and urgent care needs.
