The board and administration of Willapa Harbor Hospital are looking carefully at the option of “retrofit” of the current hospital building.

Please note: The original estimate to retrofit or “bring up to code” the current facility of $20 million to $30 million was based on:

• Estimates made in 2021. Construction costs rose 19% in 2021; 12% in 2022; 4% in 2023; and are estimated to rise 5% in 2024.

• The estimate was only for reconstruction of the oldest building and did not include Willapa Medical Clinic and other necessary outbuildings.

• The 2021 estimate did not include lost revenue due to service closures and phased construction.

• The estimate also did not include necessary staff furloughs or layoffs due to phased service closures.

• Finally, the estimate assumed the use of the Alder House property, which has since been sold to the Pacific County Housing Authority and will become senior low-income housing. (We found that the original construction of Alder House used Department of Commerce funds that required a 50-year covenant for senior housing use.)

The option of “retrofit” or bringing the current facility up to state and national code requirements would only address structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing issues of buildings on the campus. This option would, for approximately two years, interrupt services and decrease access to care. It would require furlough and/or layoffs of staff due to rotating hospital department closures during reconstruction. In other words, some staff would be unable to work while their work area is rebuilt. It would not address the additional space needed to accommodate growth in patient service volume, the serious lack of parking, nor would it change any of the deficiencies of workflow of the current campus. Rotating six-month department closures such as Radiology and our Inpatient unit would cause a dramatic loss of necessary patient care services. This would substantially decrease revenue (due to interrupted services), affecting the hospital debt capacity and endangering the ability to pay ongoing bills. The cost for this option is estimated to be between $47 million and $50 million.

The Board of Willapa Harbor Hospital, Pacific County Hospital District #2, is carefully considering all options. We will be holding several community meetings in the future to review each of these options with the public. Stay tuned for meeting locations and dates.

Our priority is to assure that high quality, modern, health care remains available to North Pacific County for generations. 

PACIFIC COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT #2  BOARD

Kathy Spoor, RN, Chair

Dr. Jeffrey Nevitt, Vice Chair

Toni Williams, Secretary

Gary Schwiesow

Steve Holland, Ed.D.