07/09/2009: "SJI Hospital Site Selection Completed"

(Site of proposed hospital)

Long standing rumors have been confirmed by PeaceHealth that the 22-acre Boe property next to the Friday Harbor Airport is the final selection for a hospital site that will include a new EMS (Emergency Medical Services) building.

“This is another significant step forward in our process to increase access and provide for the long-term health care needs of Hospital District residents and Island visitors,” said Lenore Bayuk, chairperson of the Hospital District Board of Commissioners.

“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 health care 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.
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