VALPARAISO – Work has begun on a new 430,000-square-foot Porter hospital at the northwest corner of the intersection of Indiana 49 and U.S. 6, said Jonathan Nalli, CEO.

It will take two years to complete work on the hospital, which will be the centerpiece of a 104-acre development between Valparaiso and Chesterton. The new hospital will replace a 71-year-old, 250,000-square-foot hospital on the east side of Valparaiso near the Valparaiso University campus.

The cost of the project was not announced, although Nalli said it will have a construction payroll of between $60 million and $65 million. The new hospital is scheduled to open sometime after the middle of 2012.

Nalli said Porter is working with the city of Valparaiso to find a buyer for the current hospital. He added that the hospital will maintain an emergency facility on U.S. 30 in Valparaiso .

General contractor is Robins & Morton of Nashville, Tenn. Subcontractors include Dyer Construction of Dyer for site work, which is now underway; Cives Steel of Wolcott, Ind., for steel fabrication; Chicago Decking Erectors of Merrillville for steel erection; Subsurface Constructors of St. Louis for the foundation; and Scurto Cement Construction of Gilberts, Ill., for concrete work.

A formal groundbreaking will be July 21.