'I want this facility to be the model that other coastal communities can follow'

Mar. 8—In a presentation to the city, Erik Thorsen, Columbia Memorial Hospital's chief executive officer, outlined the rationale for an ambitious expansion and emphasized resiliency.

In February, Columbia Memorial announced a long-anticipated expansion and renovation project to the campus on Exchange Street. Plans for the Astoria hospital include a new facility — about 180,000-square-feet of construction — and remodeling the existing building.

New spaces would feature an expanded emergency department, improved operating rooms, larger patient rooms, radiology services and more.

Thorsen, along with a representative from ZGF Architects, a Portland-based company hired to design the project, spoke to the City Council on Monday night.

In a brief overview of the hospital's history, Thorsen pointed to the collaboration with Oregon Health & Science University, which started in 2010, as a key ingredient of the hospital's growth.

"All of this growth has been built on that vision that we created with (Oregon Health & Science University) to keep and bring services to this local community so that our friends, our neighbors, our family members do not have to leave this community for care," he said. "That is the pursuit that we continue to be on every day at CMH."

Since 2009, the 25-bed hospital has increased staffing by 82% and has seen net revenue grow by over 217%. The hospital has become one of Clatsop County's largest employers with about 750 staff.

"We have simply run out of space inside our current facility," Thorsen said. "We have taken every closet, every spare room, every office and turned it into a clinic, or turned it into an office or whatever it is. We don't have any additional space to grow."

Thorsen cited the lack of space as having a negative impact on patients and leading to issues with privacy.

He said the hospital's board has looked for alternate sites for expansion several times over the past 15 years, but ultimately decided that redeveloping the Exchange Street campus was most suitable.

The hospital's primary facility, which was built in 1977, would likely not withstand a major natural disaster, Thorsen said.

Rich Shiga, a principal at ZGF Architects, said the expansion project's engineering included analysis of landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis with the hopes of building a more sustainable structure.

The hospital has acquired the building which formerly housed Lum's Auto Center on 16th and Exchange streets with plans to utilize it as an emergency operations center.

"We want to be a regional resiliency and environmental champion," Thorsen said. "I want this facility to be the model that other coastal communities can follow after ours is built so that we can have a string of resilient hospitals up and down the coast of Oregon."

Columbia Memorial plans to start a phased construction in the fall of 2024. More details about the project are expected to be revealed as plans develop and community open houses are held.

After the presentation, City Councilor Tom Hilton expressed concerns about traffic at the intersection of Marine Drive and Exchange Street and said several questions about infrastructure will need to be addressed.

"We have a traffic problem there already," Hilton said. " ... Infrastructure is the key to our community, especially at that end of town."

Shiga said they are aware of the traffic issue, as well as concerns with parking. He said a traffic consultant is involved in the planning.

Winterbrook Planning, a Portland-based consulting firm, will assist with land use planning issues and requirements for the project. According to an agreement approved by the City Council last year, the firm will report to the city and represent the city's interests. The hospital will reimburse the costs.

A hospital facilities authority was established in 1976 to issue revenue bonds on Columbia Memorial's behalf. In May, the City Council approved a resolution to authorize the hospital to receive tax-exempt bonds up to $25 million. The bonds are backed by revenues and other assets of Columbia Memorial and are not charges on the tax revenues of the city.

The agreement, Thorsen told The Astorian, allowed the hospital to refinance outstanding debt.

"We will use that process to issue new debt for a portion of this project," Thorsen said. "As we get closer and closer to having a budget that we can really count on, then a portion of that budget will be funded through new debt, which will go through a very similar process."

Columbia Memorial has declined to publicly provide a cost estimate for the project. Thorsen said the total cost will be determined down the road.