FREDERICK – Construction is expected to start in March on the 36,000-square-foot Indian Peaks Medical Center in Frederick.

The new medical center will be built on 70 acres near the northeast corner of Interstate 25 and Colorado Highway 52 at an estimated cost of $20 million to $30 million.

It will include cardiology and diagnostics departments, among others, said Karen Logan, a hospital spokeswoman. The building is scheduled to open in December, she said.

At some point, plans call for a new hospital and a separate, stand-alone emergency department, Logan said, though no timeline has been set for either.

The medical center project was announced in December 2010 as a joint venture between Longmont United Hospital and Poudre Valley Health System in Fort Collins through an entity called Carbon Valley Healthcare Holdings Corp. At the time, construction was set for spring 2011.

But the project was delayed because of the poor economy, Logan said. In the interim, Poudre Valley Health System partnered with University of Colorado Health, a health system headed by University of Colorado Hospital, based on the Anschutz Medical Center campus in Aurora. UCH remains in the joint venture on the