The Tri-State ushers in a new wing featuring 25 inpatient beds

May 20—Health care providers at Tri-State Health, formerly Tri-State Memorial Hospital, I a new Inpatient and Dietary Wing slated to receive its first patients starting June 5 will help them to better serve patients in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.

On Friday, the hospital held a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the event. Total costs for the new wing, roughly 10 years in the making, were upwards of $35 million, said communications director Rebecca Mann.

Don McQuary, president of the board of directors and former CEO, said the new wing was made possible thanks to community support.

“We realized we needed about $8 million (in additional funding),” McQuary said. “We went out in the community in a very short period of time, we surpassed our $8 million goal.”

CEO Kym Clift said he thinks buy-in from community members, financially and otherwise, is because people feel the hospital prioritizes local health care.

“I think a lot of both Clarkson and Lewiston community members see Tri-State as their local provider,” said CEO Kym Clift. “So they’ve invested in us.”

Because of the hospital’s Critical Access status, the wing is still limited to 25 inpatient beds and four “extended recovery” beds. But the new space is larger, and offers updated technology and spaces for families to be with their loved ones who are getting treatment, said Chief Nursing Officer Jackie Mossakowski.

“Each room is probably four times the size of the current (inpatient rooms),” she said.

The wing also has details like ceiling lifts, which reduces back strain for nurses who need to move patients, and updated workflow with computers that give nurses a clear line of sight to patient rooms.

The wing was designed to grow according to the needs of the community, Mossakowski said.

“We did multiple site visits, and did a lot of review of the literature because we wanted to design a unit, not only that meets the needs for today, but for the future,” she said. “I think that we’ve done that.”

Construction, which first broke ground in 2021, also faced challenges due to the pandemic, including supply chain problems and workers needing to call out due to illness, said Nick Gonzales, vice president of Bouten Construction Company.

“This team has poured their heart and soul into every screw, (every) nail, everything that went into this building,” Gonzales said. “I’m grateful for them.”

Clift said the end goal for the new wing is better patient care.

“Really, we exist to support the healthcare needs of the Valley. That is the only reason that we’re here,” she said. “So, I think the community feels that and I hope they feel that with this new impatient wing.”

Sun may be contacted at [email protected] or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Similar Posts