Dental, assisted living projects slated to start in 2021

DAYTON–Two capital projects—the dental clinic and the assisted living project—are anticipated to begin construction in 2021, Columbia County Hospital District Commissioners heard at the December 16 meeting.

Nelson Construction has been selected for the Dental Project, according to CEO Shane McGuire, and a contract is in the works. McGuire anticipates the project will begin in January and take about four months to complete.

The Assisted Living Project is slated to begin June and be completed in six months. McGuire said, “We have received a draft lease agreement from Ron Asmus for the North Lot. I have forwarded the draft template to review. The monthly lease amount is set to $12,000 per unit, per month. Having this number allows us to finalize an agreement with the State of Washington for our Medicaid daily rate.”

“Word about the Assisted Living is getting around the community and I’ve been asked recently, ‘Can I call up and make a reservation?’” Commissioner Jim Kime informed McGuire.

“That’s a good problem to have!” McGuire laughingly replied. “Now that we’ve got a draft agreement from the developer...I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t get a waiting list put together. If we find out that we’ve got another whole house filled already, we may choose to build the fourth unit immediately.”

McGuire said waiting list inquiries can be made with Stephanie Carpenter at the Hospital and a daily rate should be available soon.

During the final 2020 commission meeting, Chairman Wes Leid asked to step down from his current position within the Board due to health reasons and he nominated Bob Hutchens to take his place. Hutchens accepted the nomination and said, “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

Leid said to Hutchens, “If I get healthy over this next year, maybe it’ll set up a challenge between the two of us for the job!”

The Board approved unanimously and also approved Leid as Vice Chairman and Colleen Sproul as Secretary for 2021.

With the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, CCHS took a $98,000 hit in November, according the Financial Report, to pay for related expenses including staffing, supplies and testing. According to the Report, lab testing in the same month was an unprecedented 3,000. This is at a time when the Acute Bed Patient Swing Days was down about 25%. The Report states that overall, “Our Revenue has been strong for the last few months, from a combination of volumes, billing improvements and an August price increase.”