Supports emergency department services
Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster is asking voters to once again approve a one-year property tax levy at the same rate as last year. The levy proposition is on the Aug. 2 primary ballot that has been mailed to voters.
The one-year excess tax levy, which has been approved in each of the past two years by a combined total of more than 70% of voters in Okanogan and Douglas counties, would be used to fund the cost of emergency department services, as it has the past two years.
The approved levy rate last year was 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, and it would remain the same next year. For a $300,000 home, the tax would be $99 per year.
Three Rivers Hospital (Okanogan Douglas County Hospital District No. 1) would receive $844,000 in 2023 from the excess tax levy.
“Health care costs are perpetually rising, and that has a significant impact on rural hospitals,” said CEO Scott Graham. “Our emergency room is open 24/7, which requires a minimum number of staff round the clock, as well as a physician on call. These funds have been a tremendous help to us, and we appreciate the support of our communities over the past two years.”
Due to low reimbursement rates, Three Rivers receives less than half the total cost of providing emergency services to patients. The excess levy helps make up the shortfall in funding.
The hospital’s emergency services department is staffed by board-certified physicians under a contract with ERx Group LLC. Over the past two years, the hospital has expanded the contract to include some inpatient and clinic coverage as well.
“This provides a more stable consistency of care for our patients, from the time they’re seen in the ER to their stay in acute care,” said Graham.
Three Rivers Hospital also receives funding through an ongoing property tax levied by the hospital district. The current levy rate is 68 cents per $1,000 assessed value. The maximum the hospital can levy is 75 cents per $1,000 assessed value. Those levy funds account for about 5% of the hospital’s total annual revenue, according to hospital officials.
Three Rivers Hospital is a public, nonprofit hospital that serves the largest geographic hospital district in Washington — an area of 2,500 square miles that includes the Methow Valley. About 15,000 people live in the district.
Primary ballots must be postmarked by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2. Ballot drop boxes are open until 8 p.m. on election day. In the Methow Valley, ballot drop boxes are located at Twisp Town Hall, 110 E. Second Ave., and at the Winthrop Barn, 51 Highway 20.
