PVHP submits CAH plans

The Platte Valley Healthcare Project (PVHP), through its architect HGFA Architects of Billings, MT, has submitted final plans and drawings for the North Platte Valley Medical Center (NPVMC) to the Wyoming Department of Health. NPVMC will be a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital in Saratoga and will be built under a USDA program to bring healthcare facilities to rural areas of the country.

“This is a big step in the approval process and a must-have for our final submission to the USDA,” said Mike Burke, president of HGFA. “We’re very pleased that the Department of Health has acknowledged receipt of the plans and estimates only three to four weeks for a response.”

Burke said that the health department would respond with comments which the PVHP would need to address before it could achieve final approval and submit an application to the USDA.

Like all federal healthcare projects, the NPVMC was designed to standards published by the Facility Guidance Institute, a non-profit organization that develops guidance for the planning, design, and construction of hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The Wyoming Department of Health ensures compliance with those design guidelines.

“The last two things that have to happen before we’re ready to start construction on NPVMC is final approval of the drawings by the Department of Health and then the approval of support from the USDA,” Burke said.

“We are fortunate to be close to achieving both these goals because there are fears of delays in federal funding in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic,” Burke said. “But right now, we’re first in line to build the next hospital in Wyoming.”

For more information, visit their website at NPVMC.org.