area news
december
2009
Will Columbia County Have a Hospital? No One Knows - Yet
By April Bamburg
The Oregon Health Authority
denied the application for the 12-bed
Columbia River Community Hospital
on October 22. Six days later, the Co-
lumbia Health District Board of Direc-
tors authorized an attorney to initiate a
request for an informal hearing to pres-
ent further information about the project,
in hopes of changing the minds of Dr.
Grant Higginson and the Oregon Health
Authority.
By mid-November, CHD hos-
pital project spokeswoman Pam Powell
said that the hearing had not yet been set.
The cost of this informal hear-
ing? About $75,000 for consultants,
according to project manager Tary Carl-
son.
Grant Higginson, M.D., M.P.H.,
and reviewers of the Certificate of Need
application expressed concern that the
new hospital could draw enough physi-
cians and providers to adequately staff
the hospital, secure and maintain an ad-
equate revenue stream to be viable, and
that the limited hospital facilities would
not decrease the number of ambulance
transports to hospitals in Portland and
Longview.
Another factor in the denial is a
perceived need for greater primary care,
according to Higginson
“The public told us that primary
care is the most important need of the
community,” he said. “While the health
district was able to show the need for a
limited number of new hospital beds,
the increased cost to patients because of
having to use an emergency department
rather than an urgent care center might
actually reduce access to care, particu-
larly for low-income individuals,” he
said
To address the issue of lacking
primary care, the health district will in-
clude a primary care clinic in the first
phase of operations at Columbia River
Community Hospital.
“We’ll start with fewer admin-
istrators in the administration wing and
run it there,” Powell said. “The health
district board has always talked about
having a rural health care clinic in the
hospital,” she said.
Aside from the lack of primary
care physicians, other points cited in
the proposed denial are two-tier billing
rates, ambulance transports and financial
viability.
Concerns regarding the two-
tier billing system, which offers differ-
ing rates for urgent care treatment and
emergency treatment, will be addressed
in further paperwork submitted by the
district, Powell said.
In a previous CHD press re-
lease, project manager Carlson said that
the charges for the hospital “were calcu-
lated with this methodology using Lega-
cy rates, so urgent care cases would not
be charged emergency room rates.”
Yet another issue for the state is
a claim that ambulance transports out-
side the area would be reduced, as pa-
tients would go to CRCH instead of a
Portland or Longview hospital.
In his denial, Higginson wrote
that advantages include convenience
for local residents, access to a 24-hour
emergency room without a 30-minute
drive, and relief of burden and cost for
local EMS services. At the same time,
Higginson pointed out a disadvantage to
the emergency services.
“One disadvantage is that it
places a higher burden on the local emer-
gency transport system to correctly tri-
age low-intensity cases to the new facil-
ity,” Higginson wrote.
Regarding ambulance trips,
which the health district believes would
decrease with the formation of the hos-
pital, the board is working to provide
specific data to elaborate on a report that
showed between 30 and 50 percent of
ambulance trips could stay at the local
hospital. The report was prepared by
Columbia River Fire and Rescue and the
Scappoose Fire District.
Regarding the financial viability
of the hospital, Higginson wrote about
concerns that the health district had not
shown that an adequate revenue stream
would exist to fund the hospital.
“We feel updating the proforma
to include changes that have occurred
with interest rates, additional revenue
projections and costs will help the over-
all financial picture of the hospital,”
Carlson said. According to the health
district, the state reviewed the overall
feasibility without the property tax in-
come from a successful 2004 levy which
established a tax rate of $.38/$1,000 in
estimated value.
In a meeting on October 28, citi-
zens expressed concern about site prepa-
rations which were occurring at the time,
and some supported the state’s decision.
Larry Karnoski, who lives on
Millard Road, said that he agreed with
the state’s decision and asked the board
to “do what’s in the best financial inter-
est of the taxpayers.”
“I wish you’d forget it and join
forces with Legacy,” said Warren resi-
dent Thelma Bonar, who is gathering
signatures to repeal the hospital tax and
issue a refund. She hopes to have the
“People’s Initiative for Justice” on the
May 2010 ballot. Legacy Health Sys-
tems runs an urgent care center located
in St. Helens, a center that will close if
the Columbia River Community Hospi-
tal is built.
Last year, the health district se-
cured land for the proposed hospital in a
three-way land swap with the City of St.
Helens and the St. Helens School Dis-
trict. Improvements began this summer
at the site, 35311 Millard Road, but have
since ceased.
“How were permits issued for
something that hadn’t been approved?”
asked Scappoose resident Alta Lynch.
According to feasibility consul-
tant Bob McGuirk, the Oregon Health
Authority requires control of the land for
the proposed hospital before they will
consider a certifi-
cate of need.
C H D
Board member
Laura Tomanka
explained
that
work at the site
on Millard Road
was not related
to the hospital,
but instead work
on wetlands that
“were not func-
tioning properly.”
S c a p -
poose
resident
and
Columbia
County Commis-
sioner Rita Ber-
nhard has, as an
individual, sup-
ported the hos-
pital project, and
7
said that she is disappointed in the deci-
sion.
“The decision [of] what to do
next has to come from [the health dis-
trict board],” Bernhard said in October.
“I think there’s a lot more questions than
answers right now.”
Not everyone is disappointed in
this outcome, or surprised.
In the past five years, Deer Is-
land resident Tammy Maygra has at-
tended county commission meetings and
spoken out about issues surrounding the
hospital project. She was just one indi-
vidual who questioned the district’s use
of a tax of $.38 per $1,000 in assessed
value, a tax that was levied in 2004 to
provide funding for construction and op-
eration of a hospital in South Columbia
County. She has also questioned how
many individuals would willingly go to
the Columbia River Community Hospi-
tal in an emergency.
“I’m just really happy that the
state has listened to the testimony pre-
sented at the hearings and listened to the
people,” Maygra said on October 23.
The requested hearing on the de-
nial has not officially been announced.
Look for more information in a future is-
sue of Vernonia’s Voice.
This article has been published
at April’s web site, http://www.examiner.
com/x-19696-Columbia-County-Buzz-Ex-
aminer.”
Weedman Has Plans for Columbia
County’s Solid Waste Program
By April Bamburg
On September 29, Roy Weedman took on
the position of Columbia County Solid Waste Co-
ordinator, and he’s already jumped right into the
job, setting several priorities, including expansion
of the recycling program, increasing public out-
reach and increasing the amount of materials re-
cycled in the county.
Weedman expects to perform waste sorts
at the transfer station, as one of his goals is to get
a larger return on recyclables. Other priorities
include increased public outreach to community
groups and businesses.
An immediate task he has taken on is up-
dating the Columbia County Recycling website.
Instead of forcing citizens to search for the page,
Weedman would like to see that it is more user-
friendly.
“I want people to see the information as
soon as they open the page,” he said.
As the program coordinator, Weedman
will manage the county’s solid waste franchises,
work to ensure compliance with solid waste regu-
lations and oversee the Columbia County Transfer
Station. In addition, he will be involved with the
county’s emergency operations center in times of
emergency. In that capacity, Weedman will be re-
sponsible for “disaster debris management.”
He will also take over
a portion of the Dump Stoppers
program from Code Enforce-
need
ment Officer Robert Crain, who
body
will still handle enforcement
work?
issues, but Weedman will be
responsible for tracking and ex-
pansion of the program.
Additionally, one of the
areas that Weedman will focus
on is public outreach. “I love
teaching people,” he said, “es-
pecially those who want to do
the right thing.”
These tasks aren’t new
Meyer’s Auto Body
for Weedman, who earned a
493 Bridge St., Vernonia
degree in Environmental Stud-
ies with a minor in Geology
503-429-0248
from Portland State University
StPierreGraphics
in 1999, following a retirement
from United Parcel Service.
Do you own a 1998-2002 Subaru 4 door Forester? Meyer’s Auto Body has a
He worked for small
Don’t wreck
the halls
this holiday
season
continued on page 11
free windshield for you. Be the first to call. You pay labor, installation and materials.
