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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2020)
A6 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2020 Hospital: New hospital expected to cost more than $100M Continued from Page A1 Thorsen said he doesn’t like describ- ing any of the hospital’s procedures, including cancer care, as profi table or lucrative. “But, yeah, it’s one of the things that helps offset services that maybe aren’t, like the emergency room, where you’re seeing everyone irregard- less of their ability to pay in the emer- gency room,” he said. “You proba- bly need things that are a little more profi table.” The hospital has steered peo- ple away from the emergency room, and buoyed its outpatient statistics, in part by opening primary care clinics throughout Clatsop County. The fi rst opened in Warrenton in 2013. The sec- ond opened in the Park Medical Build- ing in 2018. A new clinic is slated to open next month in Seaside. The hos- pital is close to closing on property in the North Coast Business Park for a new Warrenton clinic to replace the one in the Warrenton Highlands shopping center. Overshadowing all the new clinics and the hospital’s strong fi nancials is the need to replace its 43-year-old cam- pus in Astoria. “The answer is ‘yes,’ we’re trying to build our fi nancial strength so we can in the future — and the future is unde- cided — replace this facility that we’re operating in,” Thorsen said. The current hospital is adequate but not well-suited to a new model where the large majority of hospital opera- tions have gone from inpatient to out- patient services, Thorsen said. The cur- rent hospital is also built on a concrete slab without pilings to help it withstand an expected Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake or fl ooding. Thorsen expects the new hospital to cost more than $100 million. He envi- sions a three-legged funding stool: the hospital’s cash reserves, tax-exempt bonds or other low-cost fi nancing and a capital campaign similar to the cancer center, for which the hospital’s founda- tion raised around $3 million. Columbia Memorial has a stated goal of becoming the largest rural hospital in the state, an achievement Thorsen said it has likely already reached. The hos- pital is also one of only several unaf- fi liated hospitals in the state, meaning it has no tax support or fi nancial part- ners, he said. “We have to have enough fi nan- cial strength to weather the lean times, to invest in all of the expensive capi- tal that’s required to keep up with tech- nology and change and grow,” Thorsen said. “We’re doing that all off of the revenues that are generated here in this facility.” The helicopter pad at Columbia Memorial Hospital. Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Scholarships: Department also cancels annual Valentine’s Day Ball Continued from Page A1 “We’re looking for ways to make it sustainable into the future,” Perez said. By August, the city had put scholarships on hold while looking for a more realistic funding and award model. The city hopes to debut a scaled-back schol- arship program by the end of February , after approval by the City Council, with a more sustainable $16,000 a year committed by the foundation, said Brianna Bowker, the parks depart- ment’s recreation manager. People applying for scholarships used to get three-month passes, most of them for the Astoria Aquatic Center. But many scholar- ship recipients weren’t uti- lizing the facility enough to warrant the price, Bowker said. The new scholarship program instead funds daily visits up to the price of a three-month pass, she said. The average user of scholarships visits six to eight times in a three-month period, Perez said. She has been crunching the num- bers and formulating a dis- counted pass price for scholarship-eligible res- idents to help stretch the foundation’s funds further. Many aquatic cen- ter passes have been used for access to the build- ing’s showers. Providing a pass specifi cally for shower privileges is diffi cult with their access to the entire aquatic center. Segregating pass-holders also puts city staff in the untenable posi- tion of judging people who come in to use the aquatic center, Perez said. “I’ve seen, working for parks, that people want to blame the homeless for scholarships running out,” she said. “That’s not what the numbers say. People just aren’t making enough money.” Jonah Dart-Mc L ean, interim director of the parks department, said there will also be alterations to Parks After Dark, an after-hours summer movie and activ- ity series started in 2015 to support the scholar- ships. Jim Holen, an Asto- ria Parks Board member, said a cost-benefi t analysis showed a weak return from the fundraiser compared to the staffi ng and effort needed to put it on. The city still holds free family movie nights at Fred Lind- strom Memorial Park each Wednesday in August. The parks department has also canceled the annual Valentine’s Day Ball. Bowker said attendance at the event, which brought in 60 people last year, was weak relative to the time taken to organize it. “It wasn’t something we saw as feasible this year,” she said. The Astorian Most of the Astoria Parks and Recreation Department’s scholarships go toward passes at the Astoria Aquatic Center. Homeless: Described as part of hard-to-count population by Census Bureau Continued from Page A1 However, not every- one consents to be counted. The U.S. Census Bureau describes the homeless as part of the hard-to-count population. “I think there’s still a stigma about experiencing homelessness and some peo- ple don’t want to be consid- ered homeless,” Prettyman said. Through the event and the survey, Clatsop Community Action and other agencies have identifi ed unmet needs and have developed addi- tional services. The point-in-time count, for example, has identifi ed domestic violence as a lead- ing cause of homelessness for women and children. Through the local count, Clatsop Community Action was able to access a grant to house up to nine different families experiencing domes- tic violence. They partnered with The Harbor and the Department of Human Services, which help refer people who are fl eeing domestic violence . Through the event, they have also learned that access to showers is in high demand. “So then we started part- nering with Providence Sea- side Hospital and with CMH (Columbia Memorial Hospi- tal) to be able to provide extra funding for shower vouchers throughout the year, so not only during Project Homeless Connect,” said Viviana Mat- thews, Clatsop Community Action’s executive director . Now vouchers are avail- able year-round for people to access showers at the Astoria Aquatic Center. Guilty: Pickering asked for ‘mercy’ Continued from Page A1 His mother told the judge she fears her son and believes he is dangerous. “When we’re talking about sentencing, most of the time we’re talking about trying to fi gure out a way to make the person whole, to make the defendant a pro- ductive and law-abiding citi- zen,” Brown said. “But with some people, we fi nd that we have to just look to pro- tection of society.” Pickering’s attorney described a childhood of abuse and unstable housing beginning when Pickering was removed from his home at 9 years old. According to testimony, Pickering lived in St. Mary’s Home for Boys in Beaver- ton, Oregon State Hospi- tal and a group foster home before coming back to Clat- sop County as a teenager. His attorney said Picker- ing has been homeless off and on and has not received suffi cient mental health treatment. Pickering asked the judge for “mercy” and suggested a 10-year prison sentence. “I just really want to be able to show the court that I am not a lost cause. That I am not a monster or an ani- mal, and that I do want to be a better person,” Pickering said . Judge Cindee Matyas said that, given his crimi- nal history, Pickering qual- ifi es for a sentence of life in prison, and described the reduced sentence as a gift. “I don’t view you as a monster,” Matyas said. “I view you as a very compli- cated, tragic individual. I have a lot of compassion for you, and how you got to this point. I also know that it is very diffi cult to supervise you in the community.” Matyas said she is not assured he will engage in the treatment he needs with- out a “reboot” in prison. She said prison may be a bless- ing in disguise because it can offer him a structured environment and a measure of success. “You do have different sides,” the judge said. “It’s complicated how our per- sonalities can develop based upon our experiences in life. And you have another side that is dark, very dark.” Matthews said a service they would like to provide at the event is pet immuniza- tions, but they have not been able to fi nd a veterinarian to donate their time . “So many people expe- riencing homelessness have animals, too, companion ani- mals,” Prettyman said. “And that’s so crucial, I think, even for women who are experi- encing homelessness that are scared. They have their pet for safety.” Enrollment in the Oregon Health Plan is one of the most utilized services at the event. Matthews said about half of the participants are signed up or are connected to enroll- ment support during the event. She recalled someone last year who was ill and needed to go to the hospital, but he refused to go because he didn’t have health insurance. Providence Seaside Hospital signed him up for the Oregon NEW LOCATION Health Plan online within minutes and he was taken to the hospital. Haircuts are another pop- ular service. This year, sev- eral additional hairdressers will be at the event to meet the need. “It’s not only a one-stop- shop for the participant, but also a one-stop-shop for the partner agencies,” Matthews said. “It’s a really good way of connecting agencies with each other.” NE W UN OW DE R NE RS HI SEASIDE/GEARHART P 3003 HWY 101 503.717.5206 We Provide Year Round: • Tax Preparation • E-file • Tax Planning • Business Services - Bookkeeping & Payroll • Tax Audit Support & Services • Free 2nd Look Review • Peace of Mind • Enrolled Agent Audit Representation • DLTC 26932 & OBTP B15100 & B14489 Our preparers are Licensed with the Oregon Board of Tax Practitioners. 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