Three years after the City of Pullman approved a tax increase for the expansion of Pullman Regional Hospital, the project is set to break ground. On Wednesday, the PRH board unanimously approved the Patient Care Expansion Project, which will consist of three phases involving remodeling and new construction. The first phase is scheduled to begin next month, with the entire project expected to take three years, amounting to a total cost of $41 million.

Since the approval of a $27.5 million bond in 2022, the project’s scope has changed due to rising construction costs associated with inflation. Initially, the plan outlined a total project cost between $45 and $50 million. The 2022 bond was intended to cover approximately 17,000 square feet of remodeling and about 11,000 square feet of new hospital space. However, to stay within budget constraints, the finalized plan now includes the remodeling of 30,000 square feet of the hospital and the addition of 3,000 square feet of new space. Additionally, a proposal for a new medical office building has been removed from the bond-funded portion and may be considered for a future phase, without utilizing voter-approved funds.

The path to the PRH expansion has been lengthy, with voters in Pullman rejecting the bond measure twice in 2019 before it was approved on the third attempt. In 2021, rural voters around the city also rejected a measure that would have annexed those properties into the hospital taxing district.

Funding for the remaining costs of the Patient Care Expansion Project will come from donations to PRH and the hospital’s own funds. The existing PRH hospital building was opened in 2004.