Bellingham’s St. Joe’s receives a $50 million donation. Here’s how it will be used
PeaceHealth has received a major donation to fund its expansion of Bellingham’s St. Joseph Medical Center.
The organization announced in a news release that Peter Paulsen has donated $50 million to the project, which is currently planned as a six-story, 120,000-square-foot expansion that includes adding beds, a new emergency department and a state-of-the-art family care area.
It’s the largest gift PeaceHealth has ever received and one of the largest a community health organization has received in the U.S. in the past several years, according to the news release.
Paulsen, who made his fortune as a commercial property developer and investor, is known in Bellingham for developing the Hotel Bellwether. After selling the hotel in 2010, he moved to Arizona. He is currently retired and lives in Phoenix with his wife, Diana.
In the news release, Paulsen said he was encouraged by the $15.5 million that had already been raised for the project and wanted to be part of the effort to bring first-class, community-based healthcare. Paulsen’s earlier gifts to PeaceHealth include support for hospice programs.
The building, now known as the Peter Paulsen Pavilion, will be near the main entrance of the hospital. It is going through the concept design phase and still needs to go through the public comment process. If that goes according to plan, groundbreaking for this project could happen in the summer of 2023. The hospital is also planning for a multi-level parking garage on the east side of the medical center, near the clock tower building. Construction of the parking garage, which would add about 400 spaces, is expected to begin this summer.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 12:17 PM.
