Show I Login Utah Sunday March he Herald Journal :fx JILL- 5 1878 — 1IB ' jr - :? AN OPEN LETTER: Why a New Hospital For Cache Valley The citizens of Cache Valley have for many years enjoyed the benefits of quality health care service and facilities Shortly after Logan established its first facility in 1903 the demand for services at the hospital exceeded its capacity and in 1905 a larger d facility was opened The new facility to grow so did the need for continued Cache of was a vast improvement but as the population Valley 7-b- 18-be- health care services 1914 the first phase of what we know todav as Loaan Hospital was built several expansions to the original structure were made over the years in an effort to keep pace with a growing population and the health care needs of our people By 1970 demand again began to exceed the capacity of the In hospital The Loaan Hospital building today is basically the same as it was in 1959 — the last year it w expanded As an example of how demand has exceeded capacity — in 1960 Logan Hospital recorded 19180 patient days By 1976 that figure had risen to 381 17 — a 99 percent increase Outpatient visits increased from 4496 in 1960 to 10492 in 1970 — a 133 percent increase By 1 976 that figure climbed another 1 25 percent to 23645 Emergency visits at the hospital were 1 985 in 1960 but in 1976 some 7717 emergencies were logged All hospital departments are experiencing this surging demand Community leaders and hospital officials were aware of the problem in 1970 and the Governing Saints Board initiated preliminary sutidies Then in 1975 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y which had owned and operated the hospital since 1948 divested itself of all its hospitals including world-wid- e it was inappropriate that the Church as Logan The Church felt that with its mission being a whole should support a number of hospitals in a limited geographical area A new nonprofit non- denominational corporation — Intermountain Health Care Inc — was formed to own and operate the 1 5 hospitals formerly operated by the Church There are presently 20 hospitals in the IHC system ?: r li & y i' January 1976 the Governing Board of Logan Hospital retained the services of Arthur Young & Company an established and respected hospital consulting firm to find answers to the following questions: What are current health care needs? Do the existing facilities and services satisfy these needs? What can be expected in terms of future health care needs? Will the existing facility and services be capable of satisfying these future needs? is a realistic population projection for the service area? What effect will What (5) the change have on patient census? Can the existing facility be expected to meet future fire code life safety code and Occupational Safety ana Health Administration requirements without excessive capital expenditures? if a totally new facility is recommended how large should it be and what are realistic cost projections What services should be provided? Is the existing new hospital site a suitable location? The consultants concluded that demands for services at Logan Hospital had exceeded capacity that the situation would continue to worsen and that a new hospital must be built In 7i f S J & -- w$4i WHAT ARE OUR NEEDS? First and foremost a larger health care facility must be b as soon as possible Logan Hospital outgrew its current building in 1970 and is now only SO percent the size necessary for the present volume of work The population in the service area will grow from approximately 78912 in 1975 to an estimated 108856 in 1990 — if a new facility is not built we will have only one-thir- d the needed floor space in 1 990 Another pressing need is for a e emergency room service and adequate facilities to accommodate staff Memebers of our medical staff currently rotate through the area on a "Call roster" Those physicians and our hospital staff are working under very adverse conditions as the current emergency room is cramped and completely Inadequate A new emergency facility and a e staff are vitally needed — and soon Expanded outpatient facilities current facilities are so Inadequate that In 1976 Logan Hospital was ablo to accommodate only 23645 outpatients — that's loss than ono-thir- d of what normally would have boon expected from a community this sizo By 1990 demand for outpatient service Is expected to bo in excess of 1 80000 Additionally the trend today Is for diagnostic and treatment services to be on an outpatient basis there are no facilities at Outpatient surgical services Logan for providing outpatient surgical procedures The cost of surgery would be reduced ana hospital facilities better utilized it outpatient surgical facilities were available at present all nursing Nursing facilities need expansion support areas are too small by at least 35 percent and they suffer from poor location mechanical and electrical shortcomings and more Improved surgical facilities are also needed Current facilities are cramped poorly arranged lack proper air conditioning and filtration systems and are being used to capacity Surgeries at Logan have doubled in the past 17 years — from 2 1 07 in 1 960 to 4 1 58 in 1 976 By 1 990 some 6550 surgeries can be expected Additional hospital beds are a top priority The present Logan Hospital building often exceeds its 126-be- d capacity and it is not uncommon to see patient beds in the hallways The situation will continue to worsen if something is not done soon By 1990 at least 220 beds will bo needed Diagnostic and treatment facilities must be expanded as current facilities are limited in space and have reached their capacities As an example of increased volume lab procedures went from 31828 in 1960 to 654675 in 1976 Improved psychiatric services and facilities Logan Hospital has only four beds specifically designated and constructed for short-terpsychiatric patients There Is an Immediate need for at least eight beds with the trend today towards Community education preventing illnesses before they occur there is an unmet need for hospital inpatients and outpatient education programs designed to teach patients how to prevent sickness maintain health and surmount physical disabilities Health educators and teaching facilities are needed Expanded educationalconference rooms are needed to conIn no other duct educational programs and meetings profession is continuing education more important than in health care service our programs and facilities must be designed to meet these needs Present facilities are full-tim- Our consultants considered several building alternatives: (1) They close Iv studied revitalizing the present structure but found this unfeasable as at least more land space would be needed as well as three times the floor space The cost of acquiring additional land near the hospital would materials (2) be prohibitive and much of the building would have to be torn down and replaced as it is outdated and is made of A new building on the current site was considered but deemed impractical because additional land would still be needed and the cost would be pro- £ one-thir- full-tim- d hibitive A new hospital on a new site is the most financially sound alternative and it will be built in such a way that expansion — when the need arises — can be easily accomplished The conclusions and recommendations of the consultants were studied thoroughly by the Hospital Governing Board In making their decision staff Intermountain Health Care Inc corporate staff and independent consult- they relied on the knowledgeable advice of administrators medical I)' I l-- i A rtfe wf-- ants chosen because st is a The new hospital will be built on a 31 acre site on 14th North between 4th East and 6th East This particular sits was of the hospital Additionfuture accommodate also is to The new site expansion from enough large central location with easy access major highwoys health-relate- d for and activities for other newly emerging programs space ally there will be room for physicians' offices to be built nearby space which will be arising in the foreseeable future The new hospital will contain the most modern medical technical and diagnostic equipment and facilities available It is slated to open with about 160 beds and the new building will be easily expandable to 220 beds when the need arises — An obstetrical suite with four labor rooms two delivery rooms two Included in the new facility will be: — A surgical nursing unit with 26 beds labordelivery rooms a spacious recovery area and a father's - A medical beds with 32 unit nursing waiting room — An emargencyoutpatient service unit with 1 6 treatment and — An OBGYN nursing unit with 30 beds — A pediatrics nursing unit with IB beds examination rooms and a large reception area — A diagnostic radiology nuclear medicine unit — An intensive care unitcoronary care unit and —A clinical labpathologymorgue unit coronary observation unit with 10 beds — A respiratory therapy unit with three patient stations — A psychiatric unit with eight beds — A physical therapy unit with three patient stations two whirlpools — An orthopedic unit with 28 beds e —A ana a hubbard tank unit with eight beds — An electrodiagnostics unit — A newborn nursery with 26 bassinets — Two conference'dassrooms and one large meeting room — A surgical suite with six operating rooms for -- fully-equippe- d self-car- inpatient and outpatient surgeries to Support services at the new hospital will include administration and business offices receiving and stores central supply and reprocessing continuing and community education facilities a medical library volunteer auxiliary services including a gift shop and snack bar management engineering dietary services house keeping building maintenance and data processing Plans also call for 384 parking places for medical staff hospital employees patients and visitors The cost of building the new hospital is $18 million which includes all construction and equipment design team's fees and financing charges With expensive equipment and stringent government health and safety code requirements the cost of building a new hospital is higher per square foot than almost any other type of structure each month's delay In construction costs an estimated $127000 Inflation is another immportant factor The need to begin construction at the earliest possible time is apparent Also if we do not move now towards construction we will continue to serve patients under the most adverse circumstances and will not have adequate facilities available to meet the demands of a growing population Of the total estimated $18 million needed to build the new hospital $16 million will be realized through the sale of revenue bonds and a hospital building fund which was established In anticipation of the need for a new hospital Ihe balance needed — approximately $2 million — will be raised through voluntary contributions from citizens in the hospital service area The organization responsible for raising the $2 million is the Cache Valley Health Care Foundation The Foundation is a completely autonomous nonprofit nongovernmental organization created by you the n Board of Trustees made up of a citizens of the Cache Valley area It is managed by a voluntary of our community The entire Cache Valley community is invited te become involved with Logan Hospital by becoming members of the Foundation If we fail to move then Many people have asked "What will happen if we don't build a new hospital? someone else may step forward to build a new facility A competitive hospital would mean unnecessary dupfication of services expensive supportive professional ana administrative facilities — and the net result would be increased costs to those needing care in Cache Valley For many years Logan Hospital was owned and operated by the LDS Church and our citizens never hod to think about where the money was going to come from to support that facility That situation has changed the Church is no longer involved with providing quality care to our community That responsibility has now been passed directly to us If we want adequate health care facilities to be available when we need them then we are going to have to do something about it — and now I For this reason it is imperative that we all join in supporting Logan Hospital by becoming members of the Cache Valley Health Care Foundation There is no cost or financial obligation involved We feel that once you become a member and become even more familiar with the problems we now face and the problems we will face in the future you will become enthusiastic with us and do as much as you possibly can financially for the future health care needs of our community With the cooperation and wholehearted support of everyone in our community we will continue to provide effective health care services and facilities for ourselves and our children W rtr tov kf: s? inadequate Many people have posed the question along with the present facility?" We cannot reasons mentioned above The necessity for will exceed 1975 demands by at least 20 cent in 1985 and 100 percent in 19901 cross-sectio- profit-oriente- d 46 mr' Board of Trustees Cache Valley health Care Foundation Sidney C Roskelley DD Prtidnl Via Sara Vic A Keller Piidnl LeahD Parkinson Scrtary Fred R Hunsaker Traiurr S Stan L Allen F Lodell Anderson Oral L Ballam PhD Reed M BroadLint MD Reed Bullen Rev Miner E Bruner Kenneth R Cordon Robert J Chambers G Herb Champ Clifford P Cheney Richard J Child G Walter Dansie Rulon Dunn Roland R Hancey Carma Koenig J Ross Larsen Clair H Lundberg E Malouf LLB Webster C Maughan Carl W Larry McKnight Jack B Parson Janice Pearce PhD Dean R Smith lyndyl H Sorenspn David W Sorenson JD Terence Stephens THIS AD PAID FOR BY A GROUP OF INTERESTED AND CONCERNED CACHE VALLEY CITIZENS SKtr- - — m - 1 V? jrjatatt- - ‘4ar£ hrjm r ‘WI Smo 24-ho- Glen L Taggart PhD Wilbur SThain MD Fred H Thompson Kay Thornock Kent K Van Kompen PhD Florence H White "Couldn't we get for many of the hospital services in 1980 56 per- V r |