A groundbreaking for the new Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital (Lincoln City, Ore.) will be held on September 12.

The idea of a new hospital building to replace the nearly 50-year-old building had been under consideration for some time. In September 2015, North Lincoln Health District, Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital and Samaritan Health Services announced that the health district would transfer ownership of the hospital facilities and real properties to Samaritan. In turn, Samaritan would construct a new critical access hospital on the current hospital campus. The current hospital’s main parking lot will be the site of the new facility.

On Feb. 3, 2016, the agreement became official with the closing of the property transaction between the district and Samaritan. In July of that same year, the architect and contractor were selected to partner in the planning, design and construction of the new hospital. Since then, staff members and community members have participated in brainstorming sessions to help transform the hospital from the inside out—beginning with new processes to enhance the patient experience, followed by the design of a new building to support patients, families and staff. The initial stages of construction is slated to being in early 2018.

Project partners include HGA Architects and Engineers (Minnesota) and Skanska USA Building (New York City).