Thursday, March 28, 2024

Lake Chelan Community Hospital & Clinics receives USDA funding to complete financing package for new hospital building

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Chelan, WA –  Lake Chelan Community Hospital & Clinics (LCCHC) received USDA loan approval Tuesday, Oct. 23 for a total of $22,026,000 for the new hospital building project.

“This is the approval we have been waiting to receive,” said LCCHC Board Chair Mary Signorelli. “It represents the diligent work of many, led by our very capable Chief Financial Officer Vickie Bodle, and we are grateful to all involved and to the community for continued support throughout this process.

“With this approval we are able to move forward on our building process with much gratitude and excitement!”

The new hospital building project is about strategically planning for healthcare services to meet the needs of the Lake Chelan valley in the future, said Steve Patonai, LCCHC interim CEO. “Our goal is to build a facility to help patients receive the medical care they need, right here, in our community.”

Hospital district residents voted to approve a bond to help fund construction of a new hospital facility in Chelan in April 2017. The cost of the construction project is $44.5 million, and voters voted to pay $20 million. The USDA loan, which is a low-interest Department of Agriculture loan, will fund the remainder of the project, as well as grants, hospital funds and donations from the Lake Chelan Health & Wellness Foundation.

The new building, which will be located on hospital-owned property at Apple Blossom Drive, near Wal-Mart and across from the new Columbia Valley Community Health Clinic building, will have private patient rooms, larger birthing rooms, increased outpatient capacity and a larger Emergency Department. It will also have space for Rehabilitative Therapy, Laboratory and Radiology, as well as an expanded Surgery Department and a helicopter pad for emergency transfers. The fully ADA accessible hospital will be designed for cost effectiveness, said Patonai.

Architects from CollinsWoerman have made two site visits to meet with caregivers about space and design of the new facility. With recent loan approval, the architects and general contractor Bouten Construction Company will resume the design process.

“We have concept drawings that will be very helpful,” said Barry Leahy, project manager. “Our next step is to finalize those and begin the permitting process through USDA, the city of Chelan and the Department of Health. If all comes together as hoped, we hope to break ground in 2019 and complete the building in 2021.”

Bouten Construction Company, based in Spokane, has been a regional leader in healthcare construction for more than 70 years, building some of the largest and most complex facilities from eastern Washington to western Montana, as well as critical access hospitals like LCCHC.             

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