According to Trinity, the board of directors on Aug. 27 approved the updated plan. The total project and equipment cost is expected to eclipse $500 million, up from first estimates of roughly $400 million. And while the previous project timeline had targeted the end of 2021, the revised timeline pushes completion of the project toward the end of 2022.

“Essentially, this development marks a ‘reset’ of the project and provides a realistic plan to finish the work,” Pat Holien, board chairman, said in a prepared statement. “The added costs and time are disappointing, but this assessment finally brings clarity to the questions we’ve been asking: What, how much, and when. We have the roadmap we were eagerly anticipating, so now we can really move forward.”

Trinity replaced its construction manager with JE Dunn last January and spent several months evaluating the work that had been started, current and future plans and contracts, material and inventory projections and other aspects of the project. Trinity cited project delays and overall lack of progress in switching to a new construction manager. A major propane explosion at the site added to the delay.

“We could not have foreseen the ‘perfect storm’ of events in the past year and a half, but we did expect there would be adjustments made along the way,” Holien said. “Through it all, our strategic plan hasn’t wavered: To serve the patients of this community and the region-at-large with a state-of-the-art healthcare campus and medical district we will all be proud of.”

Jill Schramm/MDN A portion of the hospital entrance and the walkway between the hospital and clinic is shown as construction workers stay busy Thursday.

Currently, about 200 construction workers are at the site, placing a gray waterproof coating and an insulation material on the exterior to prepare the buildings for interior construction by November. The final exterior finish wouldn’t be placed until late spring or summer of 2021.

“We’re excited to see that progress over the past couple of months,” Trinity Vice President Randy Schwan said at a news conference at the site Thursday. “Everything is on schedule – according to the new schedule.”

Schwan said the COVID-19 pandemic put a cloud over developers around the country who have been trying to get materials and supplies to their worksites. It has affected Trinity but not held up the project, he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not had any financial impact on Trinity’s ability to go forward with the project, either, Schwan noted.

“We are back to a very good pace at Trinity Health, and we’re seeing patients every day in our clinics and the hospital,” he said. “This project is an essential service that we are planning for the future of health care in this region, and so this did not stumble.”

The existing hospital, built in 1922, and service delivery system is outdated in today’s healthcare environment and creates barriers for patients in obtaining care, Schwan said.

“The public’s going to be just very proud of this,” he said of the new complex, one of the most significant construction projects occurring in the Midwest.

Bill Spillar, vice president of JE Dunn, said much of the interior, including walls, mechanical and electrical systems, will be prefabricated off-site at Minot businesses or at TMI Systems Corp. in Dickinson, which is providing woodworking.

“One of our biggest emphases, working in North Dakota, is using local companies,” he said. He said that is true of the prefabricated work and the work on site.

Spillar said the prefabrication also reduces the number of workers needed on the site, although those numbers still could rise to 400 to 500 people. He said JE Dunn is requiring face masks, employing social distancing, screening people entering the site and engaging in other precautions to avoid any potential construction delays due to to COVID-19.

“That’s just essential to keeping everybody safe. Our primary goal at JE Dunn is safety,” Spillar said.