The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON—CEO Shane McGuire told the Hospital District Board of Commissioners he is now cautiously optimistic about Columbia County Health System finances.

“2020 won’t put us out of business and we are ready for fall,” he told them, at their regular board meeting in May.

The CARES Act set aside one billion in aid from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services for hospitals and health systems to weather the COVID-19 challenge, and the CCHS has been allocated around 4.4 million dollars, he said.

McGuire said an initial award in the amount of $654,993 offsets the $600,000 deficit from A...