Samaritan approves $4.725 million capital budget

MOSES LAKE — The first floor of Samaritan Clinic will be remodeled in 2017 and a project to remodel the emergency room at Samaritan Healthcare is already underway. Those are some of the projects included in the 2017 capital budget reviewed by the Samaritan Healthcare commissioners Nov. 10.

The commissioners approved a not-to-exceed capital budget of $4.725 million as part of the hospital’s long term financial plan in October. Interim chief financial officer Paul Ishizuka said a more detailed list of expenditures is still being prepared and will be presented to the board at its Dec. 20 meeting.

Ishizuka said some parts of the proposal have been worked out. Capital projects include $995,000 for the hospital’s IT department, which is about what the district has been spending, he said. Spending in IT is expected to increase as the district adjusts to new regulations in the healthcare field, Ishizuka said, but that won’t have much impact in 2017.

About $950,000 was allocated for the first floor remodeling at Samaritan Clinic. Chief executive officer Teresa Sullivan said the goal for 2017 is to update the main level. “Make it feel more welcoming, more open, particularly our urgent care waiting area.”

The plan involves removing a wall in the urgent care entrance, to make it easier for people to navigate the urgent care department, she said.

Board members gave permission to start the permitting process, although the actual project details won’t be submitted to the board until December 20. That would allow the project to get started more quickly, but runs the risk that board members don’t like the plan. In answer to a question from board member Tom Frick, Sullivan said the hospital could lose a maximum of $6,000 if the permitting process started but the board decided in December to postpone the project.

The board approved $754,000 to remodel the emergency room in September; total project cost is $1.18 million. Commissioners already had approved about $425,000 for the project.

Three “quick care” rooms will be added as part of the remodel. Those rooms are for patients who can be treated and released quickly, a classification that makes up an estimated 25 percent of ER patients.

Currently the ER has nine rooms, and those nine rooms will remain. A room that now accommodates two patients will be remodeled into two one-patient rooms. Currently some rooms are designated for specific treatments, but emergency room management will be changed so that any room can be used to treat any patient.

Among other projects that might be included is “remodeling the look of the mother-baby unit suites,”Ishizuka said, “as well as improvements in safety and security of the buildings.” The upgraded security system would allow hospital officials to lock down the hospital remotely, both exterior doors and the interior by component units.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.