A centralized entrance and registration area is included in proposed renovations at Three Rivers Hospital.
Modernization plan would renovate many vital facilities
Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster is asking voters in the hospital district, including the Methow Valley, to approve a $48 million bond issue to fund a major renovation of the aging hospital.
The bond request appears on the Nov. 3 ballot for voters in the Okanogan-Douglas Public Hospital District No. 1, which includes portions of Okanogan and Douglas counties.
If approved, the proposition would authorize a $48 million general obligation bond to be repaid over 30 years through a property tax of about 73 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That would equal about $365 per year for a home valued at $500,000. The bond proposal requires a 60% supermajority to pass.
Hospital officials say the funding is needed to modernize the 77-year old hospital to accommodate current medical technology and patient needs.
The main section of the hospital was built in the 1950s. Hospital officials say the building’s infrastructure — including electrical, plumbing, generators, heating and cooling — doesn’t provide the capacity needed for today’s equipment and patient care.
The same is true for patient care spaces, according to hospital officials. Operating rooms, for instance, are smaller than current standards and lack adequate electrical outlets, and diagnostic imaging rooms can’t support the weight of the newest equipment.
The proposed bond would fund a project that would preserve the hospital’s existing building while making upgrades to infrastructure, patient spaces and clinical areas.
Third try
This year is the third attempt by Three Rivers Hospital to get voter approval for a bond to fund a renovation project.
Last November a majority of voters in both Okanogan and Douglas counties approved a proposed $45 million, 30-year bond for hospital renovations. However, the measure fell short of the 60% supermajority required to pass.
In 2023, Three Rivers proposed a more ambitious project that called for tearing down and replacing the hospital at a cost of $72 million, but the bond proposal to fund the project failed to get a majority of votes. Hospital officials scaled back the project with plans to “preserve and maximize the hospital’s existing building while making critical upgrades to infrastructure, patient spaces and clinical areas.”
Major goals of the currently proposed project include:
• Building a centralized entrance and registration area and connecting it to the medical clinic next door.
• Renovating some patient rooms to include private bathrooms and shower
• Attaching a two-bay ambulance entrance to the emergency room.
• Moving the helipad from the ground to the roof to open up space for patient parking.
• Adding a decontamination room to the emergency department.
• Enlarging operating rooms to meet current space and technology standards.
• Improving radiology facilities to provide space for upgraded equipment and improve patient privacy.
• Updating electronic medical record systems to offer MyChart access to patients
Modernizing electrical, plumbing, medical gas, and heat and cooling systems.
For the past six years, Three Rivers Hospital has asked and received voter approval for a tax levy to help fund 24-hour emergency room staffing. That tax levy generates about $1.46 million annually to staff the ER all day, every day.
The measure was on the ballot in the Aug. 4 primary election and won 66% approval.
Hospital officials said they may not have to ask for the annual ER levy if the modernization project is approved, because the hospital expects the improvements to increase reimbursements and lower some operating costs.
The total cost of the modernization project will depend on the final scope and the hospital’s ability to secure grants and other funding sources, hospital officials said. But the cost to taxpayers cannot exceed the $48 million bond.
Three Rivers Hospital is a not-for-profit, 25-bed critical access hospital, a designation for small hospitals in rural communities that ensure people can get emergency care without traveling long distances.
The hospital district serves the largest geographic area of any public hospital district in Washington, covering about 2,500 square miles that includes residents of the Methow Valley and the communities of Bridgeport, Mansfield, Brewster and Pateros.
Information about the bond is available at: threerivershospital.net/bond.
Opposition
A group calling itself the Okanogan Health Care Planning Group opposes the bond proposal. The group argues that a comprehensive study of healthcare and hospital needs in Okanogan County should be conducted before more money is spent to upgrade existing hospitals.
The group, which formed last year in opposition to Three Rivers’ previous bond proposal, says that all the county’s three public hospitals — including Mid Valley Hospital in Omak and North Valley in Tonasket — are aging, and a study could evaluate the best use of taxpayer dollars.
The group, comprised of retired medical and hospital professionals and concerned citizens from the Methow Valley, has suggested that consolidation of hospital services might be a more efficient way to deliver health care services to county residents.
“What we would like to see is a serious look at whether the current hospital business model in Okanogan County, duplicative and inefficient, can be replaced with something better,” said Peter Bauer, a member of the group. He said the tax base of the county can’t rebuild all the rural hospitals.
“This is not a knock on Three Rivers’ personnel or choices. Their mission is to the best job as a single rural hospital in the location they have,” Bauer said in an email to the Methow Valley News.
Since it formed about a year ago, the health care planning group has not secured financial backing for the study it advocates. Bauer said the group has met with local government and business leaders, and hopes Okanogan County, or a county-wide agency, will support a study.
The group has researched consultants and found one that provided “an actionable outline for a study,” Bauer said. He said the group could assist in finding grants to fund a study.
“So far the county response has been tepid. Each time the (hospital) bond fails, our suggestion gains merit. If Three Rivers Hospital succeeds in passing the bond, we will congratulate them, wish them the best, and dissolve our ‘club,’” Bauer said.
Information about the health care planning group is available at: planokanoganhealth.net.
