A8
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2019
Salvage Chief: Many are proud of its
history, but there are doubts about utility
Continued from Page A1
near Longview, Washington,
out of the Columbia River,
Holcom said.
He called the objections
“political back-stabbing.”
“There is no plan. She
has no plan,” Holcom said of
Brown.
“If you go back and look
at how much money has gone
into emergency preparedness
in our region — the building
of the emergency manage-
ment center — how much it
cost to build that emergency
management center in Camp
Rilea. If you look at the fea-
sibilities of what we’ve done
in money, the Salvage Chief,
right now, is the best bang for
the buck of any money spent
since the 2007 storm.”
Using
the
slogan
#ReadytheChief, Holcom,
the owner of Pier 39, has
aggressively promoted the
Salvage Chief’s revival, earn-
ing media coverage by The
Astorian, Oregon Public
Broadcasting and KGW.
In her email to county
commissioners, Brown wrote
that Holcom also “began
showing up at public events
to promote the project AND
to try to undermine the county
publicly by stating that he
was heading up the project
because ‘there is no plan.’”
Brown said the county
would not be the contract-
ing authority if the project
moved forward. She also said
she was unable to get answers
from Holcom to better under-
stand his objectives.
While many in the North
Coast maritime industry are
proud of the Salvage Chief’s
history and have sentimen-
tal ties to the vessel, there are
doubts about its utility.
“My concern is that it is
premature to spend $1.9M
Oregon Nurses Association
Much of Columbia Memorial Hospital’s nursing staff petitioned administrators Thursday to
improve their pay, benefi ts, staffi ng and training.
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
The Salvage Chief has a long history of successful recovery
and emergency assistance operations.
Nurses: Negotiations start again in July
on a privately owned, out
of service, 74-year-old ves-
sel before there is a credi-
ble long-term sustainment
plan outlining operations and
maintenance expenses and
revenue streams, as well as
a credible near-term plan for
its utilization after a disaster,”
Astoria Mayor Bruce Jones
wrote in an email.
Jones, a former com-
mander of Coast Guard Sec-
tor Columbia River, said
he would like evidence the
Coast Guard would use the
Salvage Chief as part of a
recovery plan, an understand-
ing with Pacifi c Power on
how the vessel might provide
electric power to the commu-
nity, and coordination with
Columbia Memorial Hospi-
tal in Astoria on how to host
medical services.
“These issues should be
methodically worked through
before funding, rather than
rushed through under an
emergency
declaration,”
Jones wrote.
Monica Steele, the interim
county manager, also shared
her concerns with state Sen.
Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose,
one of the bill’s sponsors. She
said any extra state money
available should go toward
things like deferred main-
Continued from Page A1
tenance at the former Ore-
gon Youth Authority facility
being converted into a new
county jail.
“When I was having con-
versations with Senator John-
son, my conversations were
that I’d rather see if there was
extra money the state had that
the state give that money to
the county in order to address
the deferred maintenance of
the OYA facility as a result of
the way they left that build-
ing,” Steele said.
Commissioner Kathleen
Sullivan also has doubts.
“It doesn’t seem like a
sound project to pursue,”
she said. “I’m always appre-
ciative of people wanting
to prepare our community
for emergency, I think that’s
important, but we have to be
mindful of how that money is
spent.”
Holcom, an Army vet-
eran, said saving lives after a
disaster should be the highest
priority.
“What are they going to
do to save lives?” he asked.
“There’s no plan and this ves-
sel can save lives ... I think
the critics aren’t focusing on
real issues. I think the critics
need to get real and get ready
to save lives, that’s what they
need to do.”
Traffi c: New intersection plan may be costly
Continued from Page A1
are going to be looking at
it down the road here if it’s
effective or not, and if it’s
not we need to go back and
look at what can be more
effective.
“If it’s working properly
people won’t be clogging up
sitting in that intersection wait-
ing to turn. They need to be
waiting before the box before
they make that turn.”
A new plan for the inter-
section may be costly . Wen-
dy’s was estimated to pay
$36,000 in system develop-
ment charges to help offset
the impact of the restaurant,
however, new infrastructure
improvements like an inter-
section redesign, turn lanes, or
traffi c lights would cost hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars.
Mayor Henry Balensifer
said
system development
charges do not adequately cap-
ture the cost of growth.
“We’re going to start seeing
that as our sewer system needs
to be expanded to accommo-
date all this new growth,” he
said. “That’s going to be a hit
on all the ratepayers to do that
... how do we make that fair so
that basically they’re not the
ones who have to bear the cost
of that?”
Balensifer said the city has
had to get creative to address
growing pains that have come
with rapid development over
the past decade.
“I think when Warrenton
was starting to just get started
in building there was a cer-
tain element of the commis-
sion at the time being afraid of
chasing off development and I
think the C ity C ommission has
a different outlook on things
now,” he said.
“We’re taking a stronger
stance. I t’s just the problem is
a lot of things were set up in
a different mindset and it’s just
a matter of going through and
correcting those things that
need to be corrected or updat-
ing with the times and seeing
which ones don’t need to be,
and that’s going to take a lot
of time and we’re in the pro-
cess of it.”
Wendy’s developers said
publicly before the restaurant
was built that an estimated
two-thirds of customers would
come through the drive-thru.
The location of the drive-thru
so close to the entrance and
exit of the shopping center has
been among the traffi c issues.
Cronin said one of the
updates the city has made
moving forward is putting
drive-thrus through a condi-
tional use process so the city
can have more negotiating
power.
“Wendy’s had brought that
to light,” Cronin said. “Wen-
dy’s was kind of like the poster
child for why drive-thrus need
to go through a more stringent
review process.”
Warrenton prides itself as
being open for business, but
the experience with Wendy’s,
along with traffi c problems
after Walmart opened last year,
has generated some caution.
“There’s a bit of a cul-
ture shift,” Balensifer said.
“It used to be, ‘S ay ‘yes’ to
it, any growth is good,’ and I
think we’ve realized that there
are some things that just don’t
belong in some areas and
could be better placed some-
where else or maybe there are
some impacts to neighbor-
hoods and other places that
could have been avoided and
we need to avoid in the future.
“We just need to be more
thoughtful about our devel-
opment and have more smart
growth instead of just growth
for the sake of growth.”
Providence is calling for a nurse
manager to lead surgical services
Providence Seaside is seeking a nurse manager to lead our
Surgical Services Department to oversee daily activities related
to pre-admit, operating room, PACU, endoscopy and sterile
processing.
A wage comparison pro-
duced by the union shows
Columbia Memorial nurses
often are the fi fth- or sixth-
lowest-paid among 16 hos-
pitals in the state with
between 100 and 200
nurses. Most lower-paying
hospitals were in Eastern
Oregon.
Kelsey Betts, a labor
and delivery nurse, said her
peers at Providence Sea-
side Hospital and at Ocean
Beach Hospital in Ilwaco ,
Washington, make more
money and have more gen-
erous benefi ts than nurses at
Columbia Memorial.
“It’s hard to retain and
bring nurses in when they
can go 20 miles away and
make more with a better
benefi t package,” she said.
Nurses seek better ben-
efi ts, professional devel-
opment and staffi ng levels,
along with equal pay for
nurses in Columbia Memo-
rial’s clinics and main hos-
pital. The union claims the
hospital has refused all pro-
posals to invest in more
staffi ng, leaving nurses
overstressed and endan-
gering their safety. Nurses
also want a limit on when
management can send
them home because of low
patient counts.
“We can lose three-quar-
ters of our paycheck to a
low census,” Betts said.
“Other facilities have a dock
cap in place, where there’s a
maximum amount of hours
you can actually dock the
employee.”
Nicole Williams, the
chief operating offi cer at
Columbia Memorial, who
is on the hospital’s nego-
tiating team, declined to
answer specifi c questions
about the union’s demands.
B ut she said in a statement
that negotiations have been
productive, and that the hos-
pital values its nurses.
“Negotiations are a time
to listen to each other and
change what is not working
effectively within the orga-
nization,” she wrote. “In
the end, both (the hospital)
and (nursing association)
share the same goal of pro-
viding the best care to our
patients.”
Nurses claim Columbia
Memorial aims to become
the most profi table non-
profi t rural hospital and pay
for a new campus on the
backs of its staff.
A fi nancial summary by
the Oregon Health Author-
ity found Columbia Memo-
rial ran an 11.8% operating
margin — net profi t after
expenses — last fi scal year
and earned more than $14
million in net income. The
hospital had the third-high-
est operating margin among
small, rural hospitals in the
state — lower than only
Asante Ashland Com-
munity Hospital and St.
Anthony Hospital in Pend-
leton. Providence Seaside
recorded a -13.1% operat-
ing margin and lost more
than $8.6 million in net
income.
In a written update on the
labor negotiations earlier
this month, hospital admin-
istrators denied wanting to
become the most profi table
nonprofi t hospital, but said
Columbia Memorial does
aim to become the largest
critical access rural hospi-
tal in the state based on net
revenue.
The hospital’s adminis-
tration also denied trying to
build a new campus entirely
through its operations rev-
enue. Building a $100 mil-
lion-plus new campus with
only its cash fl ow is unfea-
sible, administrators wrote.
“Any future construction
of a new hospital structure
will necessitate multiple
funding streams,” according
to the update . The hospital
“will obtain the vast major-
ity of the funding through
the borrowing of additional
debt.”
Negotiations start again
in July . Nurses have dis-
cussed informational pick-
ets, Betts said, but not a
strike .
“We’re hopeful adminis-
tration will come to the table
with something we can work
together with,” she said. “A
strike is not our goal at this
point. We want what’s best
for our patients, and a fair
contract for nurses.”
FINAL WEEK everything must go!
HUGE
SALE!
STORE CLOSING
AFTER MORE THAN 85 YEARS IN BUSINESS
WRIGHT PRO HARDWARE IN CATHLAMET IS
CLOSING THE STORE FOREVER!
ALL HARDWARE
ITEMS
75% OFF
MARKED PRICE
ALL TOOLS
75% OFF
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ALL PAINTS
75% OFF
MARKED PRICE
We offer competitive salary, benefits and a $5k signing
bonus. Some of the qualifications needed include:
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Bachelor of Science in nursing and current RN license
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Recent experience as a RN circulator
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Care management manager
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Housekeeping attendant, full-time
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WE ACCEPT
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PACU RN, full-time
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ALL SALES FINAL
Maternity RN, full-time
Other open positions
Learn about these and others jobs at www.Providenceiscalling.jobs.
20 BROADWAY
CATHLAMET, WA
1/2 BLOCK OFF MAIN STREET
STORE HOURS
MON-SAT
9AM-5PM
CLOSED SUNDAY
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