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By Ken Graham
The Times 

CCHS Board Moves Forward on Hospital Remodel

Floor plan reflects significant changes suggested by consultant after voter approval

 

Image Courtesy of CCHS

The site plan for the remodel of Dayton General Hospital, as approved last week. The hospital's current main entrance is located on the far right.

DAYTON – The Columbia County Hospital District board of directors last Thursday approved a final site plan for the upcoming major renovation of Dayton General Hospital. This plan shows the reconfiguration of hospital departments, though final details are still to be determined

The new layout reflects significant changes from the original plan presented to voters more than a year ago.

In the design approved last week, the emergency room area will be moved to the east side of the building, near where the current main entrance is. A new main entrance will be created on the north side of the building near where the current emergency entrance is located.

An expanded physical therapy facility will be built in the area that is now the Booker Annex, in the northwest corner of the building. The main administration offices for CCHS will also be moved to the current Booker Annex area.

As before, the reconfiguration will be contained within the current footprint of the hospital building, except for the addition of a therapy pool next to the rehabilitation area.

It is planned that all medical records storage, and some operations offices, will be moved into the current administration building.

In November, voters in the Columbia County Hospital District narrowly approved a $5.5 million bond levy to pay for the major renovation of the hospital.

At the time, the district had presented a preliminary design with some of the hospital operations changing location. That design envisioned moving food services closer to Booker Rest Home and moving the nurses' station to the vicinity of the current emergency room area.

However, after the levy passed, the board requested a review by the consulting firm Stroudwater Associates. Stroudwater has a national reputation for working with rural critical access hospitals on their designs.

CCHS Chief Operations Officer Shane McGuire said the Stroudwater firm is considered the expert on helping rural hospitals position themselves for change coming in rural healthcare.

Stroudwater's report, which was presented to the board in May, recommended a significant revision of priorities for the remodel.

The most significant recommended change was moving the emergency room area. The current emergency area at the hospital was just expanded and remodeled in 2012.

The original plan had avoided moving the ER for cost reasons. However McGuire said that the consultants convinced the board that an emergency facility located near the front and center of the building was important for two reasons:

First, the emergency entrance will be much more visible, with easier access from Third Street. It will also be located closer to the helipad.

Second, putting the ER in a central location is part of a plan to locate essential functions of the health system together. Also near the center of the building will be the lab area, pharmacy, and imaging.

McGuire said that part of the long term plan for the health system has to be incorporating a worst case scenario, where many services may be eliminated. Even if the Booker Rest Home, rehab department and acute care were shut down, the health system could maintain an urgent care facility that continued to offer emergency and outpatient services.

"It is very important that we have a survival plan," McGuire said. "In the long term, we have to be able to shrink, if needed, and still provide basic healthcare services to the community."

McGuire also stressed that the new design will enhance privacy for patients and their families. Outpatient services, such as labs and imaging, will be more completely separated from the emergency and acute care areas.

"We won't have people wandering the halls so much," looking for the outpatient areas, he said.

With the board's approval of the preliminary site plan, McGuire said that the team of architects and engineers hired for the remodel will proceed with detailed design work. The lead architect is Blue Room Architecture and Design, of Spokane, which specializes in smaller healthcare facilities

McGuire said he will also begin the process of hiring a general contractor for the project. CCHS is using a process called General Contractor/Construction Manager, or GCCM, which allows the project owner to assign a lead contractor to the project who is familiar with the facility and the community. That contractor then must use a low-bid process to hire subcontractors.

McGuire said that four candidates have expressed interest in the GCCM position, and he intends to have a final selection made and approved by the board by the end of the year.

CCHS is also working closely with the Washington State Department of Health to review the preliminary design and provide suggestions prior to completion of the final design.

McGuire said that the projected construction cost for the project is $3.3 million. This includes a five-percent contingency fund. The remaining portion of the $5.5 million bond sale will cover costs for professional services, including architecture and engineering, as well as consulting services. It will also cover taxes and fees.

McGuire stressed to the board on Thursday that the site plan needed to be approved by the end of September if a start date for construction of April 2016 was to be met.

"This is a hard deadline the board set," he said. "We have to move forward now if we hope to meet it."

He said he expects construction on the project to last for about one-and-a-half years, with completion slated for late 2017.

 

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