Despite the rainy weather, the $60 million Chelsea Community Hospital expansion is on schedule about five months after the project broke ground.

One of Chelsea’s largest construction projects in recent history, it includes a 100,000-square-foot expansion to the city’s hospital.

Phil Boham, vice president for facilities and support services, said at times there are some parking problems for staff but overall the project is progressing side-by-side with normal daily hospital operations.

The site is cleared and the old buildings are gone, while the underground storm and sanitary sewer is almost complete.

“The construction is progressing from west to east,” Boham said.

He said the hospital expects to finish construction by September 2012.

The first steel is expected to go up next month. On the west side is the new “therapy” portion of the building that includes physical, occupational and speech therapy areas as well as cardiac rehabilitation on the first floor and the “first 12-bed pod of patient beds on the second floor,” he said.

The two-story building will have a total of 48 new private patient rooms and six intensive care unit beds.

Also included in the project is a new emergency department with 20 treatment rooms, a new conference space, meeting rooms, a small retail and cafe area as well as a new pharmacy.

The hospital is licensed for 113 beds — and that won't change — but private patient rooms will now be located on the second floor.

The hospital doesn't expect to add jobs with the expansion.

In 2009, Chelsea Community Hospital merged with St. Joseph Mercy Health System which now operates seven hospitals in the region, including one in Superior Township and one in Saline. SJMHS is bankrolling the project.

Final plans for the renovated space are still in the design phase but are expected to include a comprehensive cancer center. This center will complement the infusion suite that opened in the professional building last fall.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter with AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page.