Columbia Memorial Hospital is about to jump into the next phase of construction for a major expansion project at its Astoria campus even though federal funding for key parts of that work remains in limbo.
Hospital leaders aren’t sure if the push forward will jeopardize access to that money in the future, but they say they can’t pause the estimated $225 to $250 million project now.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, had awarded the hospital a $20 million grant in 2023 through the agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program. The grant would have funded various components at the new building to make it resilient in the face of earthquakes and tsunamis. But this spring, under the Trump administration, FEMA abruptly canceled the grant program and the funding.
Columbia Memorial broke ground on the expansion project last year. The hospital expected to close out its first phase of construction by the end of this month and begin phase two work, which includes the resiliency components funded through the FEMA grant, and then receive the bulk of the reimbursement from FEMA.
Now, they are in uncharted territory, said Columbia Memorial CEO Erik Thorsen.
Oregon has joined a multi-state lawsuit against FEMA. This summer, a judge granted a preliminary injunction that freezes the awarded grant funds so the money cannot be used for other purposes until the lawsuit concludes. FEMA has since stated in court filings that, contrary to previous announcements, the grant program has not been canceled, creating even more confusion among states and organizations.
Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici along with Governor Tina Kotek have called for the federal government to honor its commitment to Columbia Memorial and finalize the grant award. But a spokesperson for Merkley’s office told KMUN they have yet to receive any response.
Work at Columbia Memorial, however, is going forward.
“The uncertainty around whether we remain eligible for the (grant) or not I think is the biggest question that’s out there,” Thorsen said.
“Up to this point we have checked every box necessary,” he added. “We are following every criteria set out in the BRIC grant material to ensure our eligibility, but with no answers from FEMA, it’s very challenging to know what impact our decision to proceed without official approval for phase two will mean.”
But they don’t have the luxury of waiting, said Mark Kujala, executive director of the CMH Foundation. The hospital is on a number of timelines right now with the money it has borrowed for the project and with the construction team that has already been mobilized.
The costs of pushing pause at this time would be enormous, Kujala said.
“We’ve done everything we can on our end,” he added. “But there’s just such chaos with FEMA and with federal funding in general that we just can’t afford to wait around when there are no definite timelines on anything.”
Kujala is continuing to lead fundraising efforts for the expansion project. Thorsen said the hospital will also look for other grant opportunities — the hospital landed $6 million from the state during the recent Legislative session.
He said the hospital is looking at ways to save money on construction and is in a healthy position to fund the work out of its cash reserves if needed, though this could impact their ability to tackle other projects in the future.