The existing Three Rivers Hospital buildings would be replaced by a modern facility on the same site if Hospital District 1 voters approve a $72 million bond issue request in November.
Would replace aging facilities in Brewster
Three Rivers Hospital will ask voters this fall to approve a $72 million bond issue to build a new hospital at its current location in Brewster.
Hospital officials have been considering how to deal with aging facilities for over a decade, said Jennifer Best, business development coordinator at Three Rivers Hospital.
The decision to build a new hospital is based on recommendations from consultants hired last year to evaluate the hospital, constructed in 1949, Best said.
“The main takeaway is that our infrastructure was not built to support modern health care technology, and we’ve reached a point where we can no longer retrofit new tech to a decades-old building,” Best said.
The bond proposition that will appear on the Nov. 7 election ballot would authorize Three Rivers Hospital to issue a general obligation bond of $72 million to be repaid through property taxes over 30 years.
The levy rate to repay the bond would be $1.39 per $1,000 assessed valuation based on current property values, according to information from the hospital. That would equal $695 per year for a home valued at $500,000.
If the bond is approved, the current hospital building at 507 Hospital Way, on the north end of Brewster, would be torn down and replaced with a new building. Construction would be done in two phases to minimize disruption to patients during the project, hospital officials said.
“Our building has been here for almost 75 years. Along the way we’ve done the upgrades that we can do,” said Mike Pruett of Winthrop, chairman of the hospital’s five-member board of commissioners.
“We’re at a point where the current infrastructure would not support renovations…to the aging electrical system, the HVAC (heating and cooling system), the roof, and things like medical gas and backup generation,” Pruett said.
“Looking ahead for 25 years, it will cost us more to keep those going. The most cost-effective [approach] in the long run is building a new facility. The health codes for facilities like this have evolved. We want to be able to create a facility that will be totally up to code, that will be smart, lean, and function well,” Pruett said.
“We look at this as a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” he said. “We know this is a huge ask. We’re hoping the community will be as supportive as it’s been in the past. The federal or state government is not going to do it for us.”
Public hospital
Three Rivers Hospital is a public, nonprofit hospital that serves the largest geographic district in Washington — an area of 2,500 square miles that includes portions of Okanogan and Douglas counties. The hospital is officially known as Okanogan Douglas District Hospital No. 1.
The district has a population of about 16,000 people, including residents of the Methow Valley and the communities of Bridgeport, Mansfield, Brewster and Pateros.
As a public hospital, Three Rivers is supported in part through property taxes paid by residents of the district. In 2016, voters approved a levy lid lift that increased the maximum annual amount that the district could levy from 63 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation to 75 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation. The current annual tax levy is about 54 cents per $1,000.
For the past three years, voters have also approved a separate levy, voted on annually, of 33 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation to support 24/7 staffing of the hospital’s emergency room. Both the regular levy and annual levy for emergency room staffing would continue if voters approve the construction bond.
About 10% of the hospital’s revenue currently comes from taxes, with most hospital operating expenses reimbursed through insurance or direct payments, Pruett said.
Three Rivers Hospital is a “critical access hospital,” which is a federal designation for hospitals that provide affordable and accessible health care in rural, often underserved areas.
Critical access hospitals must meet certain requirements, including providing 24/7 emergency care. They must have 25 or fewer acute care inpatient beds, be located at least 35 miles from another hospital, and have average patient stays of 96 hours or less.
Critical access hospitals like Three Rivers Hospital provide “a nationwide safety net” for rural communities, Pruett said. “People don’t think about the critical access safety net or emergency room until they need it. We are there 24/7 for our communities.”
Phased construction
If the bond is approved by voters, construction would begin in 2025 with demolition of the oldest part of the hospital, known as the McKinley building, which was built in 1949 as the original McKinley Memorial Hospital.
That part of the hospital currently doesn’t include any patient care, but is used for office and meeting space, storage, and sleep rooms for on-call staff and providers, Best said. Patient services are provided in an adjacent part of the hospital that is connected by a corridor.
The first phase of the project will construct the part of the hospital dedicated to patient care, including inpatient beds, surgery, emergency services, laboratory and radiology and supporting departments. Those patient services will continue to be provided in the adjacent part of the hospital until construction is complete, and will then move into the new facility.
The second phase of the project will tear down the rest of the hospital building, built in the late 1950s, and construct space for the family practice and specialty clinic and physical therapy services on the first floor, and administrative and physician offices and meeting space on a second floor.
Best said Three Rivers Hospital has gone through numerous expansions and remodels over the decades, and at one time had as many as 50 patient beds. As patient care has shifted increasingly toward outpatient care, the hospital reduced inpatient beds to 25.
Plans for the new hospital call for 10 patient rooms that are each capable of housing two patients if needed, Best said.
The hospital is working with an architect who is developing floor plans. Design would begin in the second half of 2024 if the bond passes.
Both phases of the new hospital construction and other grounds improvements, such as more parking, would take a couple of years to complete, Best said.
Growing population
Cherri Thomas, a Three Rivers Hospital commissioner who lives in Winthrop, said the new facility is needed to serve a growing regional population, including the Methow Valley, into the future.
“This valley is growing in leaps and bounds. We want to be able to meet the needs of our local population. We owe them an opportunity to create a facility that will last for a number of years, so families and children and grandchildren will have a facility that is sustainable,” Thomas said.
“Relying on Wenatchee and other areas is not realistic as those communities are also starting to outgrow their current facilities and capabilities,” she said.
A retired nurse, Thomas said a new health care facility will make it easier to attract and recruit qualified staff.
“Everyone loves to work in a new space with the latest equipment and streamlined workflows. They are easier to work in. We want to give our community job opportunities and a place for careers to grow,” Thomas said.
To pass, the bond proposition must be approved by a 60% supermajority, with a voter turnout of more than 40% of the number of people voting in the last general election in the hospital district.
Some hospital districts in Washington have had to try more than once to get voter approval for bond propositions. Best said Three Rivers Hospital would run its bond proposition again if necessary.
Hospital leaders and board members plan to hold meetings in communities served by the district in coming weeks to share information about the new hospital plans and the bond proposition.
A schedule of meetings and information about the project are available on the hospital website: threerivershospital.net. Questions regarding the new building and the bond can be directed to Jennifer Best at (509) 645-3347 or media@trhospital.net.
