Up to 15 cranes at a time work on the 47-hectare construction zone of the new Rhine Ordnance Barracks Medical Center, in Weilerbach, Germany. The new hospital next to Ramstein Air Base will be the largest U.S. military hospital outside the United States. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)
WEILERBACH, Germany — Construction on the new U.S. military hospital near Ramstein Air Base appears to be on schedule, but German government figures indicate that the cost has ballooned past earlier estimates with three years to go.
At this time last year, U.S. officials involved in the Rhine Ordnance Barracks Medical Center project said that the $970 million hospital project would be finished within its budget sometime in 2027. Germany’s contribution would have pushed the total cost to $1.17 billion.
However, a February statement on the Rheinland-Pfalz Federal Construction Bureau website pegged the total cost for both countries at nearly $1.6 billion.
The hike in the price tag is attributed to outdated initial calculations, now 13 years old, and a general increase in construction expenses over the years, a Federal Construction Bureau spokesperson told public broadcaster SWR on Thursday.
German administration and U.S. Defense Health Agency officials did not answer questions Friday and Monday about the cost increase, citing the need to coordinate an accurate response between the various German and U.S. agencies involved in the project.
Approximately $200 million of the work has been completed so far, including an access control point, a bridge over highway L369, a roundabout with several bypasses, and new roads connecting the access point to the clinic and the base.
Scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, the facility will replace the base clinic as well as Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, which was built in 1953.
An artist's rendition gives a preview of the Rhine Ordnance Barracks Medical Center in Weilerbach, Germany. The illustration highlights distinctive features, including an expansive glass facade evoking a waving flag and green spaces that, according to planners, aim to enhance patient comfort. (Rheinland-Pfalz Federal Construction Bureau)
The sprawling 116-acre medical center site in neighboring Weilerbach covers an area equivalent to more than 90 football fields. It has most of its structural work in place, with up to 15 cranes at a time working to complete the building shells by fall, according to a German government bureau covering the project.
Once it opens, the hospital will house 67 departments across more than 968,000 square feet of floor space and employ up to 2,500 people, according to data provided by the German state agency ABB.
The facility will feature over 4,860 rooms, including 120 treatment rooms and 68 beds, expandable to 93 beds during emergencies.
The construction site currently employs up to 1,500 workers, according to German authorities.
The facility is slated to be fully open by November 2027, at which point operations will move from the old Landstuhl hospital.
Rhine Ordnance Barracks will offer care to approximately 31,000 beneficiaries in the Kaiserslautern Military Community as well as specialty services to 209,000 others throughout Europe.
The German government’s contribution has risen from the planned $160 million to approximately $283 million, according to the German Federal Construction Bureau.
The purported cost overruns led to criticism by Alexander Ulrich, a member of the federal German parliament whose electoral district is in Kaiserslautern. Speaking to SWR on Thursday, he expressed concern about the resulting heavier burden on taxpayers, who won’t be eligible for treatment at the new hospital.
The project also faces stringent German and U.S. regulations, including energy sustainability and anti-terrorism standards, according to an ABB statement.
