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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2020)
»INSIDE 147TH YEAR, NO. 90 WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2020 $1.50 SEASIDE Columbia Memorial builds fi nancial strength for expansion Man pleads guilty to child sex abuse Pickering sentenced to 20 years in prison By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Columbia Memorial Hospital is saving for a new facility in Astoria expected to cost more than $100 million. A new hospital on the horizon By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian ver the past fi ve years, Colum- bia Memorial Hospital’s oper- ating margin has nearly dou- bled from 5.7% to 11%, the highest among rural or nonprofi t medical facilities in Oregon . The high rate of profi t became a rallying cry for nurses seeking better pay in a new contract last fall and part of why the Portland Business Journal recently named Columbia Memorial the fi nancially healthiest hospital in the region. But Columbia Memorial’s lead- ers argue the relatively plush fi nan- cials are a necessity for an indepen- dent hospital trying to take care of the community and its employees. The hospital is also funding an expansion of services that will see two new clin- ics open on the North Coast this year, with a brand new hospital in Asto- ria for more than $100 million on the horizon. Having stable fi nancials helps offer competitive wages and recruit more nurses and doctors, said Zach Schmitt, the hospital’s chief fi nan- cial offi cer. Over the past fi ve years, Columbia Memorial has grown by nearly 150 employees to more than 700, with salary and benefi t costs growing by 40%. In that same time period, inpatient discharges have grown by 40%, outpatient discharges by nearly 30% and net patient reve- nue by 70%. “The growth was deliberate,” said Erik Thorsen, Columbia Memori- al’s CEO . “This was a strategic plan that our board adopted really about 10 years ago. The board wanted to provide more services locally than we were providing at the time. And all of our work over the past decade has really been centered around that theme and that mission of we want to provide services locally. We want O Columbia Memorial Hospital performance, 2014 vs. 2018 Item Operating margin 2014 5.6% 2018 10.9% Difference 5.3 pct. points Operating expenses ($ millions) $74.7 $117.9 Up 57.8% Net patient revenue ($ millions) $76.1 $129.7 Up 70.3% Salaries and benefits ($ millions) $42 $59.1 Up 40.9% Charity care ($ millions) $1.4 $2.3 Up 56.2% Occupancy rate 47% 61.5% 14.5 pct. points Inpatient days 4,289 5,611 Up 30.8% Inpatient discharges 1,436 2,010 Up 40% Average length of stay 3 days 2.8 days Down 6.7% Outpatient visits 167,548 212,483 Up 26.8% Emergency room visits 13,046 13,765 Up 5.5% Source: Apprise Health Insights EO Media Group graphic to take care of our community in our community.” The transition from small-town community hospital to regional medical center started more than a decade ago, when Columbia Memo- rial opened the Health and Well- ness Pavil ion near its main campus. It soon added MRI and PET — pos- itron emission tomography — scans. Outpatient chemotherapy, cut in 2003 when the hospital was hemorrhaging money, was added back in 2008. In 2010, the hospital partnered with Oregon Health & Science Uni- versity on a chemotherapy clinic in the newly constructed Park Medical Building. The hospital has since part- nered with OHSU on ophthalmology , cardiology and telemedicine. The sur- gery department is entirely staffed by OHSU doctors. The hospital’s board recently added a full voting member from OHSU. OHSU retains a small ownership stake in the Knight Cancer Collab- orative, a partnership between the two institutions that recently added radiology and strengthened chemo- therapy services on the North Coast. Cancer treatment is one of the more lucrative services of a hospital, and the demand on the North Coast has outstripped Columbia Memori- al’s initial projections. The opening of the Knight Cancer Collaborative resulted in a spike of the hospital’s operating revenues from $114 mil- lion in 2017 to nearly $140 million in 2018. A Seaside man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for encouraging child sex abuse. Joshua Allen Pickering, 36, pleaded guilty to eight counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the sec- ond degree. He was orig- inally charged with 18 counts for possession of child pornography. Pickering has a long criminal history in Clat- sop County, including numerous arrests and Joshua Allen Pickering charges related to sex abuse and assault. District Attorney Ron Brown argued that Pickering is anti-social and has not been open to treatment. He called three witnesses to the stand in court to testify to Pickering’s behavior, including his mother. Jail staff described Pickering as chal- lenging to work with and volatile and threatening when he doesn’t get what he wants. See Guilty, Page A6 Parks and rec scholarships scaled back Annual costs to the city had ballooned By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian Astoria is preparing to roll out a revamped parks scholarship pro- gram depleted by heavy demand and ineffi ciencies. The Parks and Recreation Depart- ment and Community F oundation, city and local businesses have partnered for the p ast several years on fundraisers to support scholarships for lower-income residents to access health and wellness programs. Chief among them is Run on the River, a race cosponsored by Buoy Beer Co. that last year netted around $26,000. Scholarships went to anyone fi nan- cially eligible who applied. But over the p ast several years, the annual cost of the scholarships ballooned from $6,000 to $46,000, said Gad Perez, the founda- tion’s secretary. The program was fur- ther overwhelmed during the federal government shutdown a year ago, when many U.S. Coast Guard families utilized the free passes, although nobody regrets helping them out, she said. See Hospital, Page A6 See Scholarships, Page A6 County will get new homeless count Annual event links people to services By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Clatsop County will soon get an updated count on homelessness. Clatsop Community Action will host the 10th annual Project Home- less Connect on Tuesday at the Sea- side Civic and Convention Center. Over 40 other non profi t, gov- ernmental and faith-based agencies throughout the North Coast will also offer services. “I think it’s a way of instilling hope in people who are experienc- ing homelessness who are already feeling very, very hopeless with the situation that they’re in,” said Susan Prettyman, Clatsop Commu- nity Action’s housing manager. “They come in and they’re not judged by any agency that’s in there. They know those people are there to help them. ” Volunteers will help people identify their needs through an intake form. The intake will also ask people where they slept the night before, and if they mark that they slept in a car, street or camper, volunteers will ask them to complete a point- in-time survey. The survey occurs nation wide every two years during the last 10 days of January as part of a joint effort to count people experiencing homelessness. Other agencies, including the state Department of Human Ser- vices, school districts, Helping Hands and The Harbor also partici- pate in the count. Joshua Bessex/The Astorian See Homeless, Page A6 Boxes of clothing sit on a table for people to take during a Project Homeless Connect event.
