Where the new hospital is going to be…

Just got a note from Brien Lautman at PeaceHealth that they’ve got a signed purchase agreement for a 22-acre site, located just across the way from the entrance to the airport, on San Juan Valley Road, just as you leave Town. Here’s more:

Site Chosen for New San Juan Island Integrated Medical Center and Critical Access Hospital

PeaceHealth officials announced today they have signed a purchase agreement on a 22-acre site near Friday Harbor Airport where they plan to build a new Integrated Medical Center and Critical Access Hospital, scheduled to open in the summer of 2012.

PeaceHealth and the San Juan County Public Hospital District #1 (Hospital District) in March approved a long-term agreement to significantly expand on-island healthcare services for Hospital District residents and Island visitors.  The 50-year contract calls for PeaceHealth to build a new, fully Integrated Medical Center located in Friday Harbor, including a new, expanded primary care and specialty clinic, expanded diagnostic services center, a 24-hour emergency room, and a 10-bed Critical Access Hospital.

The property selected for the new healthcare facility is located at 1049 San Juan Valley Road, adjacent to the Friday Harbor Airport and just minutes from downtown Friday Harbor.

“Both the physical beauty of this property and its location make this the perfect place for PeaceHealth to build our community healthcare facility and for the District to co-locate our new EMS facilities,” said Lenore Bayuk, chairperson of the Hospital District Board of Commissioners. “This is another significant step forward in our process to increase access and provide for the long-term healthcare needs of Hospital District residents and Island visitors.”

“This property will enable the design of a new facility that will create a healing environment for patients and caregivers, and which will be consistent with the beauty of the San Juan Islands,” said Peter Adler, PeaceHealth’s Senior Vice President of Strategy, Innovation and Development.  “The timing of the land-purchase agreement keeps the new Integrated Medical Center project right on timeline and on budget.”

Under the terms of the approved contract signed in March, local philanthropy will contribute $10 million toward capital costs for the new medical center and hospital.  PeaceHealth will fund the remaining $20 million, own the property and new facility, and will have full responsibility for the delivery of ongoing patient care, staffing and operations when it opens in the year 2012. The Hospital District will not be providing any capital to build the new facility.  As a result, no additional Hospital District tax levies will be required to fund the capital costs of the project.
PeaceHealth recently appointed Jim Barnhart to lead the planning and implementation phase of building and operating the new facility. Barnhart has served for nearly two decades as the CEO and Chief Mission Officer of PeaceHealth’s Peace Harbor Hospital in Florence, Oregon. Under Barnhart’s leadership, Peace Harbor, a Critical Access Hospital, has consistently achieved excellent clinical and service outcomes for its patients and community.
The new Integrated Medical Center will increase the number of physicians serving the Hospital District’s residents and will nearly double the number of other on-island healthcare professionals serving the Island community. The Critical Access Hospital component of the project will require Certificate of Need and licensing approval from the State of Washington.

San Juan County Public Hospital District #1 is a tax-supported agency that currently provides clinic-based medical services and 24/7 urgent care services at the Inter Island Medical Center in Friday Harbor. It also operates San Juan Island EMS which provides emergency medical services, critical care transport, and injury and accident prevention programs. The District is comprised of San Juan Island, Town of Friday Harbor, Brown Island, Stuart Island, Johns Island, Speiden Island, Pearl Island and Henry Island in San Juan County, Washington. For more information on the IMC project, visit www.sjcommunityhospital.org.

PeaceHealth is a WA-based not-for-profit healthcare system serving multiple rural and urban communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, PeaceHealth has provided exceptional medicine and compassionate care to Northwest communities for more than a century, including serving the needs of small and remote communities through the operation of three successful Critical Access Hospitals. PeaceHealth annually receives national recognition for innovations in patient-centered care, patient safety and healthcare technology. Research published in the June 2008 edition of the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety ranked PeaceHealth as one of the top five quality of care healthcare systems in the country, and the leading system in the West. PeaceHealth is frequently named as one of the region’s best employers.  For more information, visit www.peacehealth.org.

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