The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – The Columbia County Health District's board of directors will decide Thursday whether to hire an outside firm to help them determine how best to spend the $5.5 million bond approved by voters in November.

"We really need to be good stewards of the public dollar," said Ted Paterson, a member of the board. "That's why we're looking at turning to an outside firm before we race into selecting an architect and a contractor and progress into a final design."

In November, voters in the hospital district, which includes all of Columbia County plus the portion of Walla Walla County within the Waitsburg School District boundaries, approved the health district's improvement bond by just over the required 60 percent.

The bond was intended to be used for the first major renovation to Dayton General Hospital since the facility was built in 1964; proposals included improvements to the nurses' station, food service facilities, and a major expansion of the physical therapy facilities including the addition of an aqua therapy pool.

With no more specific plans than a general idea about which areas needed most attention in the facility, however, the district's board of directors met with hospital and clinic staff and a Washington Hospital Association facilitator for an all-day retreat at Dayton's Best Western Hotel last week.

"It was a discussion only," Paterson said. "No votes were cast; no decisions were made."

Attendees discussed hospital district demographics (such as age of the community) and patient volume and needs; federal and state impacts to the system now and in the future through Medicaid; and the ability to move forward, Paterson said.

"We concluded, after about five hours of discussion, that we need to collect some additional data," he said. "We're looking at hiring a firm, and are gathering references at this time, that will provide some more strategic direction regarding what it is that we build, or redesign, or remodel."

The firm they are considering, Paterson said, is an objective, non-architectural company that would look at the architecture of a remodel, the desires of the system to change, the efficiencies of the recommended or considered changes, the district's volume, community needs, and return on investment.

"Our goal is to ensure we move forward in an efficient and operational manner that enhances our operation," Paterson said. "We need to be sure that what we're going to do will benefit healthcare in our community."