CC Minutes - 09/08/03 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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She explained that McKenzie-Willamette Hospital was only days away from signing an agreement to be part of a large system of hospitals, Triad Hospitals, Incorporated. She related that the hospital was ;;delighted" to find a partner that shared the values for being responsive to the community. She said that, as of yet, the joint board of directors had not met, but that the joint venture was expected to be implemented on October 1. Ms. Pryor stated that her purpose was to convey the goal of the partners to keep the lines of communication open with the City of Eugene, as well as Springfield and Lane County. She said that, in 2003, just over half of the patients at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital were from the City of Springfield and 23 percent came from the six zip codes in Eugene. She noted that this proved that hospital location made a difference when choosing health care. She affirmed that the partnership with Triad would allow the hospital to rebuild at a new site. She related that affordability, accessibility, and availability were key considerations and that the hospital partnership would continue to listen to the community in this. She expressed appreciation for the work of the Planning Commission to further the needs of the community. Tom Bowerman, 33707 McKenzie View Drive, noted that he lived close to the proposed siting of the new PeaceHealth hospital and had been through a lot of the public processes as well as contributing work to the development of the Game Farm neighborhood plan. He expressed his deep interest in the outcome of this. He commented that, when making its announcement regarding the new hospital site, PeaceHealth hospital had said that it would develop a master plan within six weeks, but such a plan had yet to be adopted. He related that the group he was working with, Citizens for Hospital Options in the Cities of Eugene and Springfield (CHOICES), had made a recommendation to a number of elected officials and interested parties that a hospital siting commission be formed. He remarked that those who had been asked felt that there was not enough time, but that since then two years had elapsed. Continuing, Mr. Bowerman wondered why the likelihood of a catastrophic disconnect of the hospital from 80 percent of the population of the community was not being discussed in the public process. He stressed that much community money would be tied up in a hospital resource. He questioned the assertion that the two competing hospitals would have the community's best interests at heart. He recommended the adoption of the first option. Philip Farrington, 677 East 12th Avenue, Suite N-225, Director of Planning and Development for PeaceHealth Hospital, affirmed the hospital's commitment to retain hospital services in the City of Eugene at the Hilyard Street campus. He related that hospital services had been provided at that site for more than 75 years, decades before the advent of zoning in Eugene. He noted that the campus had operated under the auspices of previously approved conditional use permits (CUP). He stated that the CUP process added time and uncertainty to any development. He encouraged the City to support such health services by establishing processes that would allow for more flexibility. He related that adoption of the ordinance would support the ability to have the current Hilyard Street campus have permitted uses for hospitals. He urged the council to consider that in the future there may be health care needs and services that have not been predicted at this time and reiterated the importance of retaining a certain amount of flexibility in regard to health care services. Mary Ann Holser, 2620 Cresta de Ruta, explained that she was not going to take a stand on the potential location of a new hospital. She referred to the State Certificate of Need process, and said that in order to relocate a hospital or build a replacement hospital, the City would need to go through a process of applying MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 8, 2003 Page 8 Regular Meeting