CCHS Considers Hospital Renovation

DAYTON - The Colum­bia County Health System is considering a significant re­configuration of the Dayton General Hospital building. In a press release issued last week, interim CEO John Smiley said that the Colum­bia

County Hospital District Board of Directors tentatively plans to seek voter approval in November for a bond levy to provide funds for the project.

The amount of the levy has not been determined at this point. It would af­fect property owners in the Columbia County Hospital District, which includes Columbia County, as well as the portion of Walla Walla County in the Waitsburg School District.

According to Smiley, the main reasons for the pro­posed reconfiguration are to make staff operations more efficient and to increase privacy for patients and their families. Potential changes include moving the nurses' station closer to the emer­gency room and moving food services closer to the Booker Rest Home facility.

"The redesign will reduce needless steps for staff, plac­ing them closer to the resi­dents they serve," the release said. "We are also looking to put our Acute and ER (nursing) staff closer to their patients, providing an oppor­tunity for better observation and care of those patients in need of hospitalization."

In an interview Friday, Smiley said that when the hospital was built 50 years ago, the types of services it provided were much dif­ferent than they are today. "They performed surgeries here; they delivered babies here," he said. "Now, most of our services are outpatient services."

Smiley also said that the plan is intended to make the emergency room and lab areas more shielded from the public, to increase pri­vacy for patients using those services.

The district's board has hired an architect to create preliminary design propos­als. Smiley said that the more efficient design should reduce operating costs over the long run.

He said that improved efficiency is important to allow the continued opera­tion of Booker Rest Home, even though the majority of its residents are paid for by Medicaid, which doesn't fully cover resident costs.

"The more efficient plant will create savings enabling the continued delivery of long term care to the area's senior population," Smiley said.