Pullman (Wash.) Regional Hospital received a unanimous Regional Hospital Board of Commissioners approval to move forward with a patient care expansion project.
The project, which includes remodeling, hospital expansion and the development of a new medical office on campus, is expected to take five-plus years to complete. At a cost of around $45 million to $50 million, the project will be funded through a $27.5 million bond, hospital operations, financing and philanthropy, according to a Dec. 6 press release shared with Becker's.
Pullman Regional currently employs over 600 employees and features 12 clinics along with primary care, pediatrics, general surgery and additional specialty clinics. Since its 2004 inception, the hospital's emergency visits have gone from 7,000 to 14,500, with an additional 35% spike in surgical cases, the release said.
To address this continued growth, the project will be done in five phases and is centered around patient experience and access through flexible patient care spaces, or a "universal care unit" concept. New construction for surgery expansion, emergency department expansion, BirthPlace security and technology upgrades and nurses' station renovations will be part of phase one.
The outpatient concept will ensure more flexible patient services that can accommodate emergency, post-procedure recovery and observation patient surges. Through retaining inpatient or overnight patient beds, the concept aims to have a positive impact on the hospital's 25-bed critical access status, ensuring maximized space and flexibility for same-day services.
"This is all part of a larger master plan to expand and optimize the Pullman campus over the next five-plus years," Matt Forge, CEO of Pullman Regional Hospital, said in a video addressing the community. "Since then, we have been hard at work making plans for how to best steward these resources and deliver less waiting, less traveling and more access to emergency, surgical and clinical care."
Over 100 stakeholders, including employees, nurses, physicians, community members and patients were involved in remodeling and expansion design recommendations. A 2024 groundbreaking is anticipated for the project, with tax implementation for Pullman homeowners also kicking off next year.