State keeps Gorman hospital job in neutral

Published: July 13, 2009
Tags: Catholic Charities of Madison, Gorman & Co., Mendota Mental Health Institute, Wisconsin Memorial Hospital

Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com

Catholic Charities of Madison leaders are trying to quickly push a hospital renovation project through a slow grind of state procedures.

“We need to move ahead,” said Brian Cain, president of Catholic Charities, a nonprofit Diocese of Madison group that offers a variety of services to the community. “We can’t wait forever.”

Catholic Charities might not have to wait forever, but it likely will take several months for the group to find out if it can put all its operations into one building, if it can use an existing state facility and if it can sell one of its centers to help pay for a hospital renovation.

Catholic Charities is seeking those answers to line up a lease of the Wisconsin Memorial Hospital on the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison. Oregon-based Gorman & Co. Inc. has proposed the major restoration project and upon completion would lease the building to Catholic Charities.

“From a programmatic standpoint, having buildings all across the city is not conducive when it comes to issues relating to treatment and transportation,” Cain said. “Locating everything in one building and then being able to help people already at Mendota would better facilitate that.”
First, the state must decide if Gorman’s offer is worth taking.

A 2007 Wisconsin Historical Society study confirmed demolition was the most cost-effective solution for the vacant, 89-year-old hospital, and state officials scheduled the project for this summer. But Gov. Jim Doyle in April canceled the demolition and ordered the state to take a more detailed look at renovation.

State contractors last month estimated a renovation could cost as much as $6 million, almost double Gorman’s original proposal of using $3.4 million in tax credits for affordable housing and historic preservation.

Gorman submitted the proposal late last year, but the state Department of Health Services did not consider the option viable. DHS spokesman Seth Boffeli said Monday state contractors’ estimates reinforce that decision.

But Gorman President Gary Gorman called the state’s review a “silly exercise” and said estimators did not talk to Catholic Charities about plans for the building. Furthermore, Gorman said, he will not pay for a more detailed plan or cost analysis until he knows if the state will let the project proceed.

Representatives in Doyle’s office did not immediately return calls before deadline Monday seeking a timeline for a decision about the hospital.

But Boffeli said the hospital is not a top priority as DHS starts a statewide review of all buildings on the agency’s mental health campuses. He said the review could take several months.

“The review was already going to happen,” he said. “We had a demo plan for (Wisconsin Memorial Hospital), and once that got canceled, we moved onto a higher priority.”

State Rep. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, led the charge to save the building and said she wants to discuss the project before August.

“I’d love to see a decision soon,” she said. “But I don’t know what will happen, and I only have so much power in this. I want to make sure we don’t miss an opportunity.

“DHS needs to know this window won’t be open forever.”

Gorman said the window closed for him to get the project tax credits in 2009, so he can wait for the state’s decision.

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