WATERTOWN — The Jefferson County Board of Legislators approved a resolution Tuesday that would allow the Jefferson County Civic Development Corp. to issue $99 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds for Samaritan Medical Center.
The revenue bonds, which would be paid off over time by any revenue generated from Samaritan’s facilities, would go toward several of the hospital’s ongoing projects, particularly the construction of its new two-story, 17,500-square-foot cancer facility.
The Walker Cancer Center is scheduled to open in early fall of 2018 and will include new radiology equipment on the first floor and consolidated care on the second floor with an infusion treatment suite for chemotherapy and blood transfusions. Palliative care, nutrition, financial, social and survivorship care are also being incorporated into the new center.
The first floor of the center, slated to cost $13 million, will have a fireplace seating area, education area, internet cafe, boutique and a community conference space. The medical and radiation oncology spaces will be connected to both sides of the central core for easy access for those with low mobility. The second floor will also feature a rooftop garden viewable from the infusion suite.
The bonds would also help Samaritan finance a slew of other projects, such as renovation of the radiology, mental health and maternity centers.
Samaritan CEO Thomas Carman, speaking to the Jefferson County Board of Legislators Finance Committee last week, said that improvements to the maternity area include a quicker access route exclusively for the center to better handle emergencies.
Additional uses for the bonds include parking structure improvements; refinancing of loans used to purchase property on Summit Drive in the town of Watertown for a urology, obstetrics and gynecology center; and the purchase of equipment and machinery at the main facility.
