Concerned about crowded emergency rooms? This Lacey proposal aims to help
MultiCare Health System brought its proposal for an off-campus emergency department to a Lacey hearings examiner Tuesday, and it came away with likely approval.
“Based on my review of the record, I don’t see any issue with approving the proposal with the conditions that have been recommended by city staff,” said examiner Andrew Reeves at the conclusion of Tuesday’s hearing.
The proposal for a 10-bed, 10,000-square-foot emergency department at Golf Club Road Southeast at Pacific Avenue had to be reviewed by the examiner because the project requires a conditional use permit.
Reeves said his official recommendation will be released in about 10 business days. It is then likely to come before Lacey City Council for a vote in early June, said Lacey senior planner Sarah Schelling.
Will Callicoat, president of MultiCare Capital Medical Center and the Thurston County market leader for MultiCare, made the case for the new facility. Capital Medical Center has 12 emergency room beds at its west Olympia site, he said.
Providence St. Peter Hospital has 42 emergency department rooms and another 25 hallway beds that are regularly in use, spokesman Chris Thomas said Tuesday.
“Expanding access to care is much needed in this community,” Callicoat said, adding that it is not uncommon for patients to spend five to eight hours or more waiting in an emergency room, “and that doesn’t lead to a very positive (patient) experience.”
The new emergency care facility aims to “decrease wait times and increase the patient experience,” he said.
He referenced news from last summer when Thurston County EMS announced limited ambulance availability and patient transport delays made worse by long emergency room wait times.
Callicoat said he would like to open the new emergency department as soon as possible, but most likely it will open in June 2023.
No member of the public attended the hearing, but a few submitted comments, including resident Dawn Davie.
“I have been a resident of Lacey for quite some time now and I just wanted to let you know that I think the new emergency clinic would be a great idea,” Davie wrote. “I have spent hours in the St. Peter’s emergency room and I think this clinic would be very helpful for the community and create much needed jobs also.”
Providence doesn’t have plans to expand its emergency department, but does expect to see some relief from crowding once the 85-bed Olympia Behavioral Health facility opens in northeast Lacey.
“We do expect that by having non-medically acute behavioral health patients cared for at Olympia Behavioral Health it will significantly impact the overall number of patients in the emergency department,” Thomas said.
Hearings examiner Reeves shared his belief that more emergency care needs to be made available to meet Thurston County’s growing needs.
“It’s certainly the kind of thing that every community needs more of,” he said.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
