Hospital District No.1 levy goes to voters

BREWSTER – Voters served by the Public Hospital District No. 1 in Okanogan and Douglas counties should have received ballots by now to vote for a one-year special levy that, if approved on April 28, will provide funds to support the continued operation of Three Rivers Hospital (TRH) through 2021.
They are among some 52,000 registered voters casting special election ballots in 15 districts across 10 counties. Along with Okanogan and Douglas counties, Clark, Cowlitz, Garfield, Grant, Kitsap, Kittitas, Mason, and Pierce counties are also voting.
The measure, Proposition No. 1. would “finance and maintain the availability of essential health care services” and “provide funds to pay for the maintenance, development and expansion of the District’s heath care facilities and services,” according to the official ballot description.
The measure provides for a special one-year property tax levy assessed in 2020 for collection in 2021 in the amount of $750,000 calculated at 33 cents per $1,000 of property value.    
Public Hospital District No. 1 bridges both counties from Mazama in Okanogan County to Mansfield in Douglas County according to the TRH website threerivershospital.net.
Three Rivers Hospital  prepares
Three Rivers Hospital, like many small community hospitals across the state, is shouldering the financial burden of preparing for an increase in COVID-19 patients while complying with a state order to suspend all non-essential – and revenue enhancing – medical procedures until the spread of the coronavirus is under control. Those preparations include centralizing all personal protective equipment (PPE) in one location, implementing measures to restrict visitor access, readying and staging a decontamination unit trailer and preparing staff to screen COVID-19 patients.
“Most of the PPE we have in stock was our existing supply before the pandemic,” said TRH Business Development Director Jennifer Best. “Our team has been working to procure more, but there is still a nationwide shortage of many things, including masks and batteries for PAPRs (powered air-purifying respirators). “
Best said that some supplies TRH might have received, like test kits, may have been diverted to areas dealing with a higher incidence of COVID-19 patients.
“We happily received a generous donation today from Aero Methow Rescue Service of 60 N95 masks, and some of our providers have accepted donations on our behalf from their colleagues,” said Best. “Community members have been sending us homemade cloth masks and gowns, which we’re also thrilled to have.”
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county are still climbing, though slowly, from one case reported on March 25 to 13 cases as of April 9, according to the Okanogan County Emergency Management website (okanogandem.org). As of noon, April 9, Three Rivers had tested 35 people for COVID-19.
“Of that, 30 were negative, one was positive, and results are pending on the other four,” said Best. “The positive result was announced today, and that person did not need to be hospitalized. Our current inpatient census is 0.”
Money is tight
Late last month Three Rivers CEO Scott Graham shared the hospital’s financial crisis in a media release to the public and discussed the issue with Governor Jay Inslee while the facility awaits some funding relief from the $2.2 trillion relief package passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on March 27.
“We received $1.7 million this week in advanced payments from Medicare, which we will have to pay back,” said Best. “As for the $100 billion that was allocated to health care from the federal stimulus package, we’re not sure yet exactly how much we’re getting, or when we’ll receive it.”
On March 26 TRH announced restrictions on all but specified visitors to protect patients from the risk of CVID-19 exposure. Exceptions include:
    •    One parent/guardian for a pediatric patient under the age of 18.
    •    Two visitors at a time for patients on end-of-life care.
The hospital encourages the public to keep scheduled appointments that may be handled by video chat or telephone. TRH has a nurse hotline at 509-689-3749 available between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for those with COVID-19 who wish to talk to a nurse.