By Paul Craig, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
Jul. 2–Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital plans to build out its vacant sixth floor in a $12 million project that will expand services and capacity at the three-year-old hospital.
The expansion comes as the hospital’s profits are increasing along with its patient volumes. Legacy Salmon Creek had net operating income of $4.06 million in fiscal year 2008, which ended in March, even though it had budgeted for a loss of $4.5 million. It was the hospital’s second full fiscal year, following a loss of $11.8 million in 2007.
“We definitely feel we’re on a stable fiscal footing now,” said Jonathan Avery, hospital chief administrative officer. “The losses of the ramp-up period are behind us.”
The hospital turned a profit faster than expected thanks to greater demand for its services. Its average in-patient volume, according to daily census reports, jumped to 94 in 2008, up from 81 the previous year. For the first few months of the new year, the hospital’s in-patient average increased to 109 patients a day, Avery said. Emergency visits, births and surgical cases also continued growing.
If the permitting process goes as planned, sixth-floor construction could begin by September. It will take 10 to 12 months to complete and will all be done in one phase. The hope is to have the floor open to patients by midsummer 2009.
The construction will include moving the hospital’s progressive care unit to the sixth floor and adding a second such unit. The former progressive care area on the third floor would then be converted into a neurosciences unit. An orthopedic unit for joint medicine will also be built on the sixth floor and a general surgical care unit will move from the fifth floor to the sixth floor. The fifth-floor space will then be used to care for overflow patients from the hospital’s birth center.
The project will add 64 beds, bringing Legacy Salmon Creek up to its capacity of 220 active beds, the maximum it was licensed for when it opened in August 2005.
Paul Craig covers the health care industry for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4520 or via e-mail at [email protected].
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