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Construction has started on a replacement for a piece of Oregon health care history.

General contractor Skanska USA Building and subcontractor Knottworks Construction are building the new $42 million Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City. The existing one is said to be the last remaining wood-framed hospital in the United States.

The current hospital, near Devils Lake, has served the community since its opening in 1968. But it no longer meets local, state and federal building codes.

鈥淎 while ago we were given a waiver,鈥� said Dr. Lesley Ogden, CEO of both Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital and Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport. 鈥淚’ve never actually seen the documentation, but that’s the lore; we were given a waiver to continue to operate. And so although the building has treated us very well 鈥� it has served its life beautifully 鈥� but it’s time for new facilities.鈥�

The existing facility will remain in operation through the end of 2019, when the new one is expected to be ready.

The new structure is being built, of course, to seismic code for a critical care facility, Skanska USA Building Vice President and Account Manager Todd Predmore said.

鈥淣obody would do a critical access facility out of wood,鈥� he said with a laugh. 鈥淭here are structural requirements and there is all kinds of equipment secured from the ceiling.鈥�

Another issued faced by coastal builders is the threat of a tsunami. Critical emergency facilities, including hospitals, cannot be built in a flood zone. Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital, however, is on a slight elevation above Devils Lake, just outside Lincoln City’s tsunami inundation zone.

Samaritan Health Services had been examining possible replacements for North Lincoln Hospital for over a decade. The major problem was financial. Officials were not confident that voters would pass a bond measure.

鈥淲e couldn’t see a way forward,鈥� Ogden said. 鈥淭he district and Samaritan weren’t sure the community could raise the amount of money needed for a full replacement hospital.鈥�

In the end, a unique solution came about. The North Lincoln Health District, which owned the hospital property and buildings, agreed to swap its interest in those assets in exchange for a promise from Samaritan Health Services to build a new hospital.

The new hospital will actually have a smaller footprint than its predecessor. Aesthetics will invoke a woodsy, Pacific Northwest feel.

鈥淚t’s radically different,鈥� Ogden said. 鈥淎 lot of what we have here is natural beauty, so we’re trying to incorporate the feeling of you’re here in Lincoln City and there’s something special about being here.鈥�

That refreshing change will be merely one that occupants will notice.

鈥淭he old facility has a lot of really wide corridors and circulation space that’s used for nothing more than really walking around,鈥� Ogden said.

As such, the new layout won’t include any redundant spaces not dedicated to care of patients.

鈥淭he hospital challenged our team to think outside the box and design it differently,鈥� Predmore said. 鈥淭hey wanted it to be as efficient as possible and take up as little space as possible and still be functional.鈥�

This project is one of two at the Oregon coast being carried out by Samaritan Health Services. Approximately 28 miles south, in Newport, Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital is being rebuilt.

A partnership between Neenan Archistruction, a design-build firm from Fort Collins, Colorado, and Corvallis-based T. Gerding Construction is carrying out the $57 million project. It’s being paid for with bond money approved by voters in the Pacific Communities Health District.

The Newport project calls for renovation of some of the existing facility, a three-story addition and a seismic retrofit. Work is expected to wrap up by the end of 2019.