Let’s Set The Record Straight on the Proposed Gig Harbor Hospital

Franciscan Health System is eager to provide Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula residents with emergency and other hospital services needed and desired by the community.

We are saddened by MultiCare executives attempts to minimize the need for a local hospital on the Peninsula and to mischaracterize what our proposed facility would offer (Gateway, March 3).  They would have readers believe residents would be worse off with the addition of an acute-care hospital in their community!

To be clear, the proposed hospital’s sophisticated emergency department would be available 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week and staffed by medical doctors, nurses and other highly trained personnel.  It would be on par with Franciscan’s emergency rooms at St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood and St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, both of which successfully care for approximately 25,000 patients each year.  This is  similar to the level of emergency care offered by MultiCare’s own Allenmore General Hospital.

The Gig Harbor hospital’s ER will be able to definitively treat all but the most serious trauma cases. In rare emergencies, such as severe burns or extensive head injuries, the Gig Harbor hospital emergency room staff may play a critical role by stabilizing the patient before transport to medical centers in Tacoma or Seattle.  Out of nearly 3,500 emergencies that are transported from the greater Gig Harbor area annually, last year only 28 actually required the Level II trauma services of the Tacoma hospitals.

Not a “limited-service facility” as our competitor portrayed, the Gig Harbor hospital would offer services typically provided by community hospitals throughout Washington.  While we do not plan to offer maternity services because projected birth rates do not meet the standards for a top quality OB service, we could easily add that service later should estimates prove inaccurate.

MultiCare executives also suggest area residents will enjoy convenient, quick access to hospitals when the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens. However, according to the state’s own studies, the fundamental purpose of the second bridge is to improve public safety, not to dramatically improve travel times. Many residents share serious doubts as to whether two additional HOV lanes on a toll bridge will improve traffic flow.

As a non-profit organization, we do not take the prospect of making a $100 million investment in Gig Harbor lightly.  The state’s process for reviewing and approving construction of new hospitals is rigorous and exhaustive.  We’re ready to start work on providing residents high quality hospital and emergency care as soon as possible.  We hope we are given the opportunity to do so.

Sincerely,