A hurdle spanned.Byline: The Register-Guard One by one, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center is putting the pieces in place to build a new hospital on the back nine holes of RiverRidge Golf Course in north Eugene Eugene, city (1990 pop. 112,669), seat of Lane co., W Oregon, on the Willamette River; inc. 1862. A processing and shipping center in a farming area, the "Emerald City" has lumbering, food-processing, and microchip and other electronics industries. , but the high-anxiety process is undoubtedly creating gray hair for all concerned. Every step involves make-or-break decisions for supporters and opponents of the proposed $234 million project. Another in the chain of such decisions came Thursday Thursday: see week. when the state Department of Human Services said that it plans to issue a certificate of need permit allowing McKenzie-Willamette to build a 148-bed hospital in Eugene to replace its 114-bed facility in Springfield Springfield. 1 City (1990 pop. 105,227), state capital and seat of Sangamon co., central Ill., on the Sangamon River; settled 1818, inc. as a city 1840. . There was never much doubt that McKenzie-Willamette would get the green light for a hospital permit. The crucial question was whether the approval would allow the full 148 beds Texas-based Triad Hospitals Triad Hospitals is a Fortune 500 company based in Plano, Texas. It operates 54 hospitals in the United States. In February 2007 it received a merger/buyout offer from another company, and then in March 2007 it received a superior merger/buyout offer from Community Health Systems of Inc., McKenzie-Willamette's majority owner, maintained were necessary for the new hospital to be financially viable. Triad was legitimately worried that PeaceHealth's new medical center at RiverBend in Springfield and its expansion of Sacred Heart's Hilyard campus would absorb the limited number of hospital beds regulators will allow in a given area. Thursday's permit approval indicates the Department of Human Services believes that the area can support all of the hospital beds requested by PeaceHealth and Triad. That's welcome news for McKenzie-Willamette, but it's it's 1. Contraction of it is. 2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its. it's it is or it has it's be ~have too soon to pop any champagne corks. Triad's permit was approved with two conditions: McKenzie-Willamette must obtain all necessary zoning and land use approvals to operate a hospital on the site; and it must cease providing inpatient inpatient /in·pa·tient/ (in´pa-shent) a patient who comes to a hospital or other health care facility for diagnosis or treatment that requires an overnight stay. in·pa·tient n. hospital services at the Springfield facility once the new hospital opens. The latter condition is perfunctory per·func·to·ry adj. 1. Done routinely and with little interest or care: The operator answered the phone with a perfunctory greeting. 2. Acting with indifference; showing little interest or care. , but the zoning and land use approvals will be bitterly contested. The much more complex and expensive issues of how to solve safety and access problems in a multi-jurisdictional highway system may soon make Triad long for the simpler battles over bed capacity. |
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