Neeser Construction Inc.: Norton Sound Regional Hospital JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 119 C onstruction begins shortly on the new Norton Sound Regional Hospital in Nome, Alaska. The project was rubber- stamped in September 2009, when the Indian Health Service awarded a $ 91 million contract for construction to Inuit- NCI, JV, an undertaking between Inuit Services Inc. and Neeser Construction Inc. of Anchorage. " These Recovery Act funds will provide critical assistance to American Indian and Alaska Native communities," said Indian Health Service director Yvette Roubideaux. " These funds will help improve healthcare." Work will commence on the 150,000- square- foot stimulus health Neeser Construction is involved in building a new hospital in Nome, Alaska, a technologically state-of- the- art facility made possible in part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

120 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 building in 2010, replacing the existing 61- year- old hospital, thanks to funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the official title of the federal economic stimulus bill. Upon completion in 2012, it will be owned and operated by Norton Sound Health Corporation, a tribal- owned, nonprofit organization. The new facility will be more than three times the size of the existing facility and will replace parts of the existing site dating back to the 1940s. " It's needed; it's past due," said Cliff Gray, project manager for Norton Sound Health Corporation. NSHC was founded in 1970 and today runs a 24- member board representing all communities and areas of the Bering Strait region, encompassing 44,000 square miles of northwestern Alaska. " One of the largest impacts will be that it will provide a lot of stabilization for businesses. That will be a huge effect, in addition to primary care. The secondary spin-off effect will be the benefit not only to businesses but to landlords and the service industry. It will have a real stabilizing effect on the economy and take Nome out of the boom- and- bust cycle." This project will involve the construction of a brand-new steel frame structure including three levels plus a mechanical penthouse. The building will be located on a 38.9- acre site owned by NSHC. Facilities in the new hospital will include primary care, ambulatory surgery, pharmacy, diagnostic imaging, emergency room, public health nursing, dental and laboratory services. The 19- bed hospital includes two beds designated for labor and delivery. Another effect will be the addition of up to another 100 jobs to the existing 450 workers at the hospital. Neeser Construction's involvement in the project will come as little surprise given the company's excellent track record on healthcare projects totaling over 1 million square feet of new construction and renovation. Since 1991 Neeser has constructed medical office buildings, heart centers, doctors' offices, a major hospital renovation, and the Veteran's Outpatient Clinic with associated parking garage on the Alaska Regional Hospital campus. The company, founded in 1969 by Jerry Neeser, has always looked to hire hand- picked, highly skilled employees with a zest for learning. By that time, Neeser and his brothers had already been grounded in carpentry skills by their father, Louis, and had completed school, church and commercial projects across Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The business began in California, and for the next five years Neeser concentrated on building high- rise structures and subterranean parking garages across the West Coast region. In 1974 Jerry made the decision to move his family to Anchorage, from where the company has since flourished. Neeser Construction has retained many of its initial employees, meaning it can draw on an enormous well of knowledge and expertise. The business has maintained its values of tradition and integrity in all areas from design-build projects to hard bid and development projects. The civil design of the new hospital in Nome was undertaken by Bristol; as a new, technologically state-of- the- art facility, the hospital has the opportunity to become a community landmark as well as the flagship