Jefferson Healthcare recaps recent hospital expansion plans

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Jefferson Healthcare recently hosted a series of virtual meetings to share ideas about the new hospital modernization project and service expansion — an estimated $112 million project to renovate the south side of the hospital campus in Port Townsend — and meet the health needs of the community.

The presentations outlined the initiatives of the project, with the first being to replace and/or retrofit the buildings constructed in 1965 and 1988. These buildings were determined to be seismically unsound in a Tier 2 structural and seismic evaluation.

The second initiative is to relocate and potentially expand hospital infrastructure, including the OB-GYN clinic, express clinic, MRI services, surgery preoperative, vascular imaging, many support services, administration, and the cafe.

Another key expansion could be to introduce new services to the community, which are most frequently accessed outside of the county, such as ear, nose, and throat services, as well as an ambulatory surgery center, and new oncology space for a linear accelerator and radiation oncology.

In the presentations, CEO Mike Glenn explained the impact this project would have on operations while highlighting the projected health needs of the community over the next decade.

Over the last eight years, Jefferson County’s population has increased by 5 percent, and Jefferson Healthcare’s adjusted patient days nearly doubled, he said.

Jefferson Healthcare officials are encouraging the community to watch and listen to meeting recordings on the hospital’s website as well as provide comments and feedback via online.

The meetings did not address cost or final building plans.

Glenn explained that the project team will relay feedback to its design-build team who will then provide initial renderings and costs with proposed services to share by mid-July.

The information will decide funding sources for the project, which would include the healthcare provider’s cash reserves, Jefferson Healthcare Foundation contributions, debt capacity, state and federal grants and appropriations, and a possible bond measure in the fall.

To learn more, go to
jeffersonhealthcare.org.