RUMFORD – Even though the area has received an abundance of snow this winter, the $5 million addition at Rumford Hospital is on schedule for completion in November.

Warren Allison, superintendent for the project, said the two-story addition should be ready by the end of that month.

Workers poured one of the walls Tuesday. Until the addition is enclosed, he said an average of a dozen construction workers will be on-site. Once enclosed, more employees will likely be at work.

Virtually the entire addition is built on ledge, just as the original building was.

Ledgewood Construction of South Portland is the general contractor. It was also the general contractor for the new entrance and renovated emergency room last year.

The addition is phase III of a multiyear project to bring the 80-year-old hospital up to 21st century standards.

Hospital spokeswoman Jane Bubar said a survey conducted several years ago showed that people wanted to keep their local hospital in town, rather than moving it outside, as some had suggested. Since then, several millions of dollars have been spent to first update the infrastructure, then renovate the emergency room and construct a new entrance.

Phase III will include 22 private patient rooms, a single nursing station and a new operating room.

The original building was completed in 1926. Since then, two other additions have been made – one in 1965 and a second in 1975.

Once the third and final phase is completed, the original section of the hospital will be used for a variety of medical and administrative offices, Bubar said.

Rumford Hospital became part of the Central Maine Medical Center group a few years ago. It then became what is known as a critical care facility soon after. That designation enables the hospital to receive additional federal money under Medicaid and Medicare. Patient stays are generally no longer than three or four days. If longer stays are necessary, then patients are transported to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

John Welsh, chief executive officer for Rumford Hospital, said the hospital and its related facilities, including Swift River Health Care, Rumford Community Home, and several physician practices, employ about 400 people. As such, it is the second-highest employer in the River Valley.

NewPage Corp. in Rumford employees the most people, at about 1,050.