The Norton Sound Regional Hospital, already in the planning phase, is now due to receive $152 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich announced Tuesday.
The hospital is one of two "shovel-ready" projects nationwide selected for stimulus-bill funding by the Indian Health Service, agency officials told Begich. The second is a hospital in South Dakota.
"This is exactly the kind of project the stimulus was designed for," Begich said in a press statement.
Building the hospital will create an estimated 200 construction jobs, including some that will begin this summer; operating the hospital will create 100 more jobs and help retain 450 existing hospital positions, Begich said.
The 144,000-square-foot project is designed to replace a 50-year-old hospital operated by Norton Sound Health Corporation, a tribally owned nonprofit that currently provides health care for 10,000 people in the Bering Strait region.
The Recovery Act is expected to create or save more than 8,000 jobs in Alaska over the next two years by funding energy projects, road construction and education, Begich said.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.