Bellingham’s St. Joe’s hospital moving forward with these plans on major expansion
Whatcom County’s hospital is moving forward with significant expansion plans that should lead to better access for the community.
The capacity may change as the project moves from the conceptual to final stage, but at this point, Charles Prosper, chief executive of the PeaceHealth Northwest network, estimates the hospital will gain around 44 new beds across the Intensive Care and regular nursing units.
“Equally important, our plan calls for a transition from our current standard of two patient beds per room to one bed in each room, an industry-standard that is more conducive to healing and improved patient outcomes,” Prosper said.
The hospital also plans to expand the emergency department area, adding more scanners and diagnostic equipment to improve treatment times.
While the new building is still in the concept stage, some plans are taking shape. PeaceHealth is interested in moving the birth center into the new space and having a helicopter pad on the roof for quicker patient transfers. The birth center will be included in a family-centered unit that will include services for different stages of childhood, from newborns through the teen years.
The PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham is currently going through the design and permitting process for two phases of expansion, with the first expected to result in construction work by this summer.
Multi-level garage first
The first phase is a multi-level parking garage that will add more than 400 parking spaces near the clock tower building on the east side of the hospital. Building permits are in the process of being submitted to the city. If construction starts this summer, the parking garage is expected to be ready by the summer of 2023.
The parking garage is slated to go in an area that is already being used for surface-level parking. The plan is to build temporary parking on property the hospital owns nearby as well as explore other off-site parking options.
The second phase is an expansion of the hospital itself. The six-story building would have about 120,000 square feet of space, which is around the same square footage as the Bellingham Walmart. This project is going through the concept design phase and still needs to go through the public comment period before going into permitting If that goes according to plan, groundbreaking for this project could happen in the summer of 2023.
When both phases are complete, improved access and the more efficient design will “undoubtedly lead to better patient care outcomes and a greater capacity to meet Whatcom County’s growing needs,” Prosper said in an email.
Currently named West Pavilion, the new building would be next to the current main entrance to the hospital. The entrance area will require some changes, as will the bus stop, but no parking will be impacted, Prosper said.
Since it is still in the design stage, St. Joseph doesn’t have a finalized cost estimate. Being part of a larger network of hospitals, the organization will tap into a variety of investment and loan options to pay for the construction.
“Also critical to this project will be engaging our community in a collective vision of the future of healthcare in Whatcom county through philanthropic support,” Prosper said.
Need for more space
While the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the hospital’s need for more capacity, the community’s growth as well as meeting future healthcare needs were the main reasons driving these expansion plans, Prosper said.
“What we’ve learned from COVID is the need to have flexible and adaptable space to meet changing patient care area needs within the walls; we’ve been successful doing that within our current footprint. The plans for the new pavilion will allow adaptability as well,” Prosper said.
Before the pandemic, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center operated at approximately 85%-90% capacity on most days, said Beverly Mayhew, spokeswoman for PeaceHealth. The hospital has operated at more than 100% capacity during much of the variant surges, with omicron being most challenging.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
