Kootenai | Kootenai Health | Issue 2, 2014 - page 17

KOOTENAI HEALTH
EXPANSION AT A GLANCE
Three stories tall
Located on the east lawn and adjoining the existing hospital
First floor: family birthing center and NICU (neonatal intensive care
unit), lobby and registration area, expanded waiting area
Second floor: patient rooms to serve medical and surgical patients
Third floor: shell space to be completed at a later time
First and second floors will provide a 10 percent increase in patient
rooms and add 100,000 square feet to the hospital
All patient rooms in the expansion will be private rooms
Ground breaking anticipated in summer 2014
Estimated cost: $57 million
Funding provided by operational cash reserves, Foundation dona-
tions and debt financing, which will also help fund other capital
expenditures for five years
Kootenai Health has not assessed taxes since 1995 and there are no
plans to do so now or in the future
Kootenai will add between 100 and 150 new staff positions related to
growth and expansion by 2018
area, and expanded visitor waiting
areas. The third floor will remain
unfinished during the initial phase
of the project. Once the first two
floors are completed and open, the
expansion will give Kootenai about
a 10 percent increase in patient
rooms.
“Kootenai Health continues to
expand services to the patients of
northern Idaho. A recent facility
assessment showed we have a need
for about 20 percent more space
on our main campus to meet future
needs,” said Jon Ness, Kootenai
Health CEO. “Seeing more patients
and receiving more referrals from
other communities are good indica-
tors that our strategic plan to be a
comprehensive, regional medical
center is on target.”
Part of the expansion’s cost
will be paid using operational
cash reserves, part will come
from donations to the Kootenai
Health Foundation, and part will
be financed through debt. Debt
vehicles to help fund this and other
capital expenditures over the next
five years are still being evaluated.
Kootenai has not assessed taxes
since 1995 and there are no plans
to assess taxes now or in the future.
“Now is a great time for us
to expand,” said Jeremy Evans,
vice president of operations. “We
continue to see more and more
patients, current interest rates are
favorable, and construction costs
and worker availability are also
good. Additionally, other improve-
ments needed in our existing
facility hinge on this expansion.
Together, these make this an ideal
time to expand.”
The expansion will benefit a
growing community by offering not
only much-needed medical ser-
vices, but also new jobs. Kootenai
estimates it will add between 100
and 150 new positions related to
growth and expansion by 2018.
KH . ORG
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KOOTENAI HEALTH EXPANSION
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