As the retired CEO of Ocean Beach Hospital and Medical Clinics (OBHMC), I would like to express my complete and total support for the for the $10 million capital bond that OBHMC is putting up for vote that concludes Aug. 1.

The Lake Chelan community recently opened a new hospital (replacing one older than OBHMC) at a cost of $44.5 million. They had the advantage of relatively plentiful and cost effective land on which to build. I had scoured the Long Beach Peninsula for replacement hospital land — it simply did not exist — that was in a tsunami-safe area; readily accessible and with existing infrastructure (water, sewer, power, internet …)!

The current hospital will celebrate its 50th birthday next year (2024) — and while it has been well maintained — healthcare has changed greatly in the last 50 years, so the planned updates and needed upgrades (patient rooms/bathrooms, pharmacy space, HVAC systems, etc.) are the next best alternative.

The urgent care being planned along with an expansion of the main clinic in Ilwaco are also key benefits that will be realized by the passage of this capital bond — having the urgent care in Ilwaco makes great sense, too — it catches the flow of people off the peninsula, there is heliport if needed, and immediate access to existing laboratory and radiology services.

The covid-19 pandemic taught us all some tough lessons – and I am very proud of the way the hospital providers and staff met the requirements of the pandemic (for example including the creation of negative-pressure rooms that remove infectious agents from the air — making space safer for patients and staff). OBHMC needs to make the temporary negative-pressure rooms into rooms that can be made negative (or positive) pressure as needed — including the creation of negative pressure rooms in the Emergency Department.

The annual cost to those that own real estate and directly benefit from improvement at the hospital and clinics is about half of the costs of the bond that was retired in December 2021 — or on average about $67/per year on property that is assessed at $400,000. It is important to note that any increase in your home’s tax assessment does not increase the dollars you pay per year — the tax rate on the assessment is “lowered” when the tax assessment goes up!

In summary, please vote with me and approve the $10 million capital bond that will be up for vote in April 2023.

See more about the bond details here: www.oceanbeachhospital.com/bond.

LARRY COHEN

Long Beach