Spending more than $24 million on construction may not seem the best medicine for budget reductions, but keeping the University's Hershey Medical Center competitive involves various tactics.

During the year, the center has prescribed different remedies for eliminating $22 million from its budget -- including a hiring freeze, employee cross-training and numerous committees.

But construction continues for the $16.9 million operating room and emergency department addition, which began in November 1992 and should be completed this September. Another project, a $7.2 million central energy plant, remains in the design stage.

The medical center regularly updates utilities to make them more efficient and more cost-effective, said Roger Burns, chief financial officer.

"We need to continually renovate and modernize our facility in order to attract patients," Burns said. "You can't allow your facility to deteriorate."

Charles W. Tandy, vice president for administration at the center, said the current operating room has been used since it was built in the late 1960s. Construction for both projects had been planned for years, he said.

"(That construction) is one that is really essential for our continuing to be competitive," Tandy said.

Burns said the need to stay competitive and find easier ways to complete jobs prompted the decision to reduce the budget, not a financial crisis. Instead of hiring outside consultants, administrators formed committees to examine ideas. Staff members can also help identify areas where costs need to be reduced, he said.

Since the plan was introduced to the University Board of Trustees in November, administrators have emphasized that layoffs will be a last resort. Open positions will either be eliminated or filled by current employees, Burns said.

Carole Johnson, who works in the center's dermatology laboratory, said a few employees seemed concerned about how the changes will impact them. Some also distrust the administration's claim to not lay anyone off, she added.

"I think they're fooling themselves," Johnson said about officials' determination not to fire people. But she agreed construction is needed.

Except for the energy plant, a part of Gov. Robert P. Casey's Operation Jumpstart program, money for construction usually comes from funds the medical center generates and not the state, Burns said.

"Hopefully, we're being very wise and prudent about how we spend money," he said. "Obviously, we're not going to stop spending money."