The first step in a major renovation project at East Texas Medical Center in Fairfield was expected to get underway this week when demolition starts on a clinic adjoining the hospital.

ETMC administrator Raz Cook reports that cranes were to be positioned about midweek to tear down the clinic and construct a new, 21,000 square foot building housing doctors’ and hospital administrative offices.

The project was approved by the Fairfield Hospital District board of directors in March and is being funded by ETMC, which leases the hospital facility.

A second part of construction is to enlarge and remodel the emergency medicine department on the south side of the hospital.

Estimated cost to build the clinic/office building and revamp the emergency medicine department is $15 million.

When those jobs are completed, ETMC has proposed adding a 10-bed patient wing to the hospital and remodeling existing patient rooms.

Work on the hospital is part of a master plan drawn by ETMC four years ago. Initial phase was to remodel the hospital front entrance and build a canopy over the front drive.

The canopy theme will carry over to new construction, replicated in front of the emergency medicine entrance and in front of the new office building.

In other business before the board at its regular meeting last week, FHD administrative assistant Larry Ivy gave a quick rundown on the district budget, current and for fiscal year 2010-11.

The district is operating this year with $1.5 million in budgeted expenses, but Ivy reports that he expects actual figures to come in about $400,000 less than the approved amount.

Largest savings are $150,000 for hospital equipment, which has not been spent, $100,000 reduction on indigent patient care and $50,000 in unspent contingency funds.

Ivy presented the board with a 2010-11 rough budget draft that mirrors the current budget, $1.5 million in expenses and $1.5 million of income.

The FHD administrator made calculations using the 2009 tax rate of 3.659 cents per $100 property valuation to generate $932,218 in revenue. However, tax valuations in the district dropped about seven percent this year.

Board members will adopt a new budget and set the tax rate this summer.