Files letter of intent to create ambulatory surgery center
Walla Walla, WA—Providence Health & Services is negotiating with Adventist Health to purchase the former Walla Walla General Hospital building.
Providence’s vision for the campus is to create a multi-use outpatient facility with primary care, an ambulatory surgery center, Urgent Care and other services.
Providence has filed a letter of intent to request a Certificate of Need from Washington State Department of Health to create an ambulatory surgery center on the campus. The center would contain two operating rooms and two endoscopy procedure rooms in order to address patient needs in the greater Walla Walla community.
The purchase also would include the campus property, the Family Medicine Clinic building at 1111 South Second Avenue that Providence is currently leasing from Adventist Health, a small clinic building next to the former hospital, and a 5-suite medical office building near the entrance of the campus.
Adventist Health chose Providence as the prospective buyer following a request for proposal process.
“Providence St. Mary Medical Center and Providence Medical Group have reached the stage where we must either construct, lease or buy a building to keep pace with the community’s growing health care needs. The former Walla Walla General Hospital building will allow us the space we need,” says Susan Blackburn, Chief Administrative Officer. “From an economic and environmental standpoint, we also believe it is better for Providence and for the community if we renovate existing vacant buildings. The hospital and clinics were constructed to be a health care facilities, and under this plan they can again serve Walla Walla as health care facilities.”
Details of the plan for the campus will be defined in a collaborative session with medical staff and other leaders.; At a high level, the vision for the facility includes:
- A portion of the former hospital building would be used for an ambulatory surgery center once a Certificate of Need is granted by the Department of Health. There are no plans to reopen it as a 24-hour inpatient hospital.
- The former Walla Walla General Hospital emergency department would be the new home for an expanded Urgent Care.
- Providence Medical Group Family Medicine would remain at its new site at 1111 South Second Avenue.
Updates will be posted at www.providence.org/WallaWalla.
“We look forward to sharing our plans for the facility with the community as we move forward,” Blackburn says.
Providence St. Mary Medical Center, a 142-bed regional hospital, is the fourth largest employer in Walla Walla County. Providence Medical Group is the largest group of primary care providers and specialists in the Walla Walla area.
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