Legacy Takes Burden Off Other ERs; New Hospital to Begin Receiving Patients Today

Beginning today, people in need of emergency medical care will have a choice of Clark County hospitals as the new Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital begins accepting emergency patients at 7 a.m.

Legacy won’t start taking elective patients until Sept. 1.

Up to now, Southwest Washington Medical Center’s emergency department on Mill Plain Boulevard has been among the busiest in the state, with 100,000 patients a year.

When Southwest’s beds fill up, emergency patients must be sent elsewhere. In the past, that has meant Portland.

With the opening of Legacy’s 3,000-square-foot emergency room, at 2211 N.E. 139th St., ambulance service providers expect to be making fewer trips across the river.

Dave Fuller, Clark County director of American Medical Response, is expecting ambulance service to be more efficient.

“When resources go out of the county, it’s hard to get them back,” Fuller said about the diversion of ambulances to Portland. “With the next closest hospital in Portland, we would lose an ambulance for two hours or longer.”

Legacy Salmon Creek officials are projecting that their new emergency department will serve about 30,000 patients in its first 12 months.

AMR, which operates 14 ambulances during peak demand and employs 95 full-time workers, provides most of the county’s emergency ambulance service. It responds to between 90 and 100 calls a day, of which an average of 63 involve taking patients to hospitals.

Fuller said patients with emergency heart problems and serious injuries will go to Southwest Washington Medical Center, the nearest Level II trauma center, or to Portland. He said such cases represent about 4 percent to 5 percent of AMR’s call volume.

“The rest of our cases … shortness of breath, abdominal pain, general sick calls … will likely be patient choice,” he said

Fuller said AMR and local fire departments have been training with both hospitals to manage emergency cases.

Legacy originally had planned to open its emergency department last week, but delayed the opening until today so staff could receive additional training on certain equipment and services.

Big investment

Portland-based Legacy Health System spent $190 million buying its Salmon Creek hospital site, and constructing a six-story hospital and parking garage.

About $54 million went into equipment, with another $35 million spent to build a pair of adjacent medical office buildings.

Legacy has already paid $16 million in sales tax on the purchase of construction materials and services for the project.

The hospital, which employs 700 workers, is opening with 80 active beds and will slowly increase to 151 as demand dictates, officials said. Two upper floors will eventually include additional patient rooms, boosting the capacity to 220 beds.

Legacy projects that operating expenses in its first fiscal year, which will end on March 31, will be $70 million.