Albany's hospital footprint anchors on Samaritan Albany General Hospital, the local Samaritan Health Services campus on the city's south side. Adjacent specialty clinics expand the broader medical-district footprint, and Samaritan's regional referral network ties Albany General into the Samaritan Good Samaritan Regional hub in Corvallis. This article walks through what facilities directors and patient access services leads at Samaritan Albany General and other Linn County medical campuses should expect on scope, scheduling, and cost for ADA curb-ramp installation.
ADA 2010 Section 502: The Hard Standard
ADA 2010 Standards for Accessible Design Section 502 governs accessible parking and the access aisle. For hospital campuses, the binding parts are:
- Minimum stall counts: 1 van-accessible per 6 accessible stalls (with at least 1 van-accessible per lot).
- Access aisle width: 5 feet for car-accessible, 8 feet for van-accessible.
- Stall and access aisle slope: 1:48 max in any direction (roughly 2 percent grade).
- Curb-ramp slope: 1:12 max (roughly 8.33 percent) on the ramp run.
- Detectable warning surface: per Section 406, on the ramp transition to the vehicle-way.
Samaritan's facilities planning team carries an ADA self-evaluation that lists every non-compliant ramp and stall on each campus, prioritized by patient-traffic exposure. Adjacent specialty clinics run their own evaluations tied to building owners or Samaritan's regional facilities-planning office. For design background, see our ADA curb-ramp slope reference.
FGI Guidelines and the Health-Facility Overlay
The Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals are the binding healthcare-facility standard adopted by reference in Oregon hospital construction code. The FGI Guidelines layer additional requirements on top of ADA: minimum unobstructed pedestrian path widths through ambulance-access zones, lighting standards on accessible routes, and ramp-protection details where vehicle traffic conflicts with pedestrian flow. A standard commercial ADA ramp does not always meet FGI Guidelines; a hospital ramp does. For broader campus paving context, our Albany fleet-yard paving coverage walks through the adjacent procurement pattern.
Ambulance-Access Lane Preservation
The single hardest constraint on Albany hospital ADA work is the ambulance-access lane. Every ED entrance has a designated ambulance-access lane that has to stay operational 24/7. Samaritan Albany General's ED entrance serves as the primary Linn County emergency department on the west side of the I-5 corridor. ADA curb-ramp work on or near that lane happens in night-shift work windows (usually 10pm to 6am) with phased lane closures and active traffic management. The hospital security or facilities team coordinates each phase with EMS dispatch. Skipping that coordination is the fastest way to lose hospital trust on a project.
Patient-Flow Continuity and Construction Phasing
Hospital campuses run on continuous patient flow. The standard phasing playbook:
- Map every ADA path-of-travel through the affected zone.
- Designate a temporary ADA-compliant alternate route before any construction starts.
- Post wayfinding signage in English and Spanish (and other languages as the campus patient demographic requires).
- Coordinate with patient transport, valet, and shuttle services on the new route.
- Run the construction in 2-to-4-day phases with full restoration at the end of each phase.
The temporary alternate route has to meet ADA Section 502 compliance on its own. That sometimes means installing a temporary modular ramp as part of the project mobilization. Our Albany university striping coverage walks through the parallel campus-coordination pattern at LBCC.
Industry Baseline Range for Albany Hospital ADA Curb-Ramp Work
Pricing depends on ramp complexity (single, perpendicular, parallel, combination), detectable warning surface type, drainage tie-in, and night-shift premium.
Industry Baseline Range
| Scope | Cost Per Ramp | Typical Cluster Total |
|---|---|---|
| Single ADA curb ramp (standard) | $2,400 to $5,200 | $2,400 to $5,200 |
| Perpendicular ramp with truncated dome panels | $2,900 to $6,200 | $2,900 to $6,200 |
| Combination ramp (corner radius) | $4,300 to $8,500+ | $4,300 to $8,500+ |
| Full ED-entrance ADA path with drainage tie-in | $8,500 to $24,000+ | $8,500 to $24,000+ |
| Night-shift premium | +20 to +40 percent | varies |
Current Market Reality
Albany hospital ADA curb-ramp work in 2026 trends toward the upper portion of the published baseline. Concrete and truncated-dome-panel material costs rose roughly 20 percent through 2024-2025. Night-shift premium and after-hours coordination add 20 to 40 percent to a daytime baseline. The mid-Willamette wet-season pattern compresses the workable construction window. A standard perpendicular ADA ramp with truncated dome panels at the Samaritan Albany General ED that bid at $3,700 in 2019 commonly bids at $5,000 to $6,000 today. For broader cost context that stacks with the ADA ramp line, see our Oregon asphalt cost benchmarks.
Detectable Warning Surfaces (Section 406)
ADA 2010 Section 406 requires a detectable warning surface (typically a truncated-dome panel) at the ramp-to-vehicle-way transition. The hospital-grade choice is a cast-in-place or surface-applied panel that meets the 50-percent visual-contrast requirement against the surrounding concrete or asphalt. The two main practical choices:
- Cast-in-place panels: installed during the concrete pour. Longest service life but more expensive at installation.
- Surface-applied panels: bolted or adhesive-bonded after cure. Lower upfront cost but more frequent replacement.
Most Samaritan campuses default to cast-in-place for new installations because the long-term replacement cost on surface-applied panels at high-traffic ED entrances stacks up over a 15-year horizon.
Specialty Clinic Coordination
Samaritan Albany General's broader medical district carries multiple specialty clinics with their own building-management teams. ADA work across multiple clinic campuses can be coordinated as a single capital project with shared mobilization cost, which is the cleanest path when several buildings need work in the same year. The Samaritan regional facilities-planning office typically coordinates that batching. For broader concrete-service scope, see our concrete services page.
Procurement and Scheduling
Samaritan Health Services runs its own private procurement. Schedule the work for the dry season (May through October). The Linn County climate gives a workable window that is comparable to Corvallis next door but slightly tighter than the south Willamette Valley.
Talk to Cojo About Your Albany Hospital ADA Project
If you are a facilities director, patient access services lead, or capital projects manager at Samaritan Albany General or another Linn County medical campus, the next step is a campus walk and a scoping conversation. We will log each non-compliant ramp from the ADA self-evaluation, sequence the work to preserve patient flow and ambulance access, and price the scope against your capital cycle. To get the conversation started, start an Albany hospital ADA scope and we will be on site within the week.