by Richard Uhlhorn
District Forum for the Hospital
will include Board Presentations
and a Question & Answer Session
at 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 8
at the Chelan Senior Center
The Lake Chelan Community Hospital Board of Directors heard from CEO Steve Patonai at its board meeting on Tuesday, April 23rd on the projected space allocation for the new hospital. The voters had agreed to a 77,000 square foot facility, but according to Patonai, that has been scaled back to 54,000 square feet.
Hospital CEO Steve Patonai gave the Hospital Board a presentation on new space considerations at the new hospital.
The new space consideration does not include moving the Clinic to the new campus. That according to Patonai will happen sometime in the future. “There was a lot of process to go through on the Clinic/Outpatient at the campus. We couldn’t make it work.”
The new hospital will have 21 beds (as opposed to the 25 beds in the current hospital.), two operating rooms, a procedure room, seven emergency department rooms and one triage room. “That is a broad summary,” Patonai told the board.
The 21 beds will include nine beds for hospital patients, 10 beds for sanctuary patients and two additional beds that can be used for either the hospital or Sanctuary.
What will not be at the campus is the Clinic in the hospital building or EMS Services. “We will talk a little bit more about that,” said Patonai. “We want it on site close to the facility.” Also the business office will be located elsewhere.
Commissioner Mary Signorelli asked what the timeline was for bringing a proposal to move the clinic to the campus. Patonai said there were ongoing discussions with the developer of building a clinic at the campus.
The cost of the new facility is $43.9 million which is $600,000 less than that $44.5 million available. Commissioner Jordana LaPorte asked about potential monetary problems, or what happens if something goes wrong. Patonai said, “They believe there is enough contingency available.”
Hospital Board member Mary Signorelli brought up the fact that the new hospital would have a lot less space than originally planned.
Signorelli remarked on the space allocation. “We are significantly lower in square feet than was originally planned. I hope the public understands that we are building the most efficient facility we can.”
The commissioners accepted the program Patonai laid out for them at this meeting.
Board Chairman Phyliss Gleasman said a special meeting would be scheduled to meet with the architect and contractor within the next week or so.
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