RUMFORD – A long-term plan to expand Swift River Health Care received a boost this week when Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced a $100,000 grant toward the project.
John Welsh, chief executive officer of Rumford Hospital, said Tuesday that an increase in the number of patients served each year at the 10,000-square-foot facility next to the hospital, has prompted the need for more space. He said about 25,000 patients are now seen on an annual basis.
With Rumford Hospital’s affiliation with Central Maine Medical Center, the Swift River facility also takes part in a physician residency program and training for a rural track family practice program, he said.
Tentative plans call for building an additional 5,000 square feet onto Swift River Health Care at an estimated cost of $1.4 million.
The grant will come from the Department of Labor and Health and Human Services and Education spending bill.
The money will go toward planning, preliminary designs and feasibility studies for the addition, Welsh said.
The current Swift River facility opened in 1996.
Also under consideration as part of the long-term project is demolition of the adjacent former nursing school to make way for additional parking. A portion of it was used to house the Veterans’ Clinic that has now moved across Franklin Street. It is currently used for hospital/clinic storage and to house mental health counselors and a physician’s office.
Welsh said a firm decision has not yet been made on whether the 70-year-old brick building will be razed.
He said once a preliminary plan is designed for the clinic’s expansion, a decision will likely be made on the former nursing school building.
He said the additional space is also needed to provide offices for several additional physicians and mental health service providers.
If the $1.4 million project is launched, he said some of the additional money needed could come from internal resources.
The local grant is part of a $3.3 million federal grant package directed at Maine programs. Other area recipients include Central Maine Community College for training metal workers and St. Mary’s Regional Hospital for updates in data technology.
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