Newport’s hospital has expanded its services in recent months, but a new market assessment shows additional needs to better support rural residents in northeast Washington and North Idaho.
“Our community continues to grow as well, especially with us being located along a main route,” said Jenny Smith, public information officer for Newport Hospital and Health Services.
Over the last couple of months, Newport Hospital and Health Services has added 24/7 respiratory care and doubled its MRI services from twice a week to four times a week. Additionally, they've added diabetic retinopathy screening and are currently in the process of bringing echocardiogram services in-house.
Smith also said the hospital added “Express Care,” after patients were struggling to get booked to see their primary providers. It allows people to walk in for urgent, but non-emergent medical concerns.
She said the hospital has known for some time that it needed to offer more. Smith pointed out that two years ago, Newport expanded its maternity services after Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint closed its labor and delivery unit.
For some families, even though the hospital is 30 to 40 miles away, it is their closest option, she said.
“We are really focused on growth and focused on continuing to try and listen to the services that they need, the services they don't want to have to drive into Spokane or Coeur d'Alene for,” Smith said.
However, because of its location on the Washington-Idaho border, Justin Peters, chief financial officer for the hospital, said management conducted a market assessment to see what other services might be added.
“We've been receiving patients from all the way from Sandpoint to Spokane, a lot of those places are backed up, and some of their services can take up to six to eight weeks sometimes,” Peters said.
Smith added that about 35% of their patients are from Idaho.
Through the market assessment, they found potential market opportunities for the hospital include additional capacity for general surgery, orthopedic surgery, cardiology and expanded wound care.
The report also says current and projected volumes in the emergency department show the need between 10 to 12 beds, including specialty rooms for behavioral health, pediatric and patients under isolation precautions. Emergency department volumes in 2025 are expected to surpass 10,000 visits; the current space accommodates up to 7 patients.
By 2035, those needs are expected to increase by 2,000 visits, its assessment states.
Additionally, the assessment reports that by 2031 physical therapy volumes are expected to increase 15%. The current space is insufficient to support the projected growth. Future space requirements would include additional gyms, consultation rooms, individual treatment areas, changing areas, and expanded waiting areas, it says.
Peters said the findings line up with what they’ve already been hearing from staff.
“Some of the physicians — their biggest ask right now is just more space. They could be seeing more patients, but we just don't have the capacity,” Peters said.
“So that's one thing that we're looking into. How can we get them that room so that we can continue to serve our patients? We really want to make sure that we have the capacity to serve everyone here," he said.
Peters said the hospital's cash position is strong, but they are exploring for funding opportunities as they consider potential expansions and continue reviewing the assessment.
Smith said in January of this year, they had about 100 days of cash on hand. At the end of October, they had about 112 days of cash on hand, she said, which equals to a little over three months.
According to data from the Washington State Hospital Association, hospitals need at least three to six months of reserves to help ensure operations.
Peters also acknowledged the wave of rural hospitals closing units or risk of closures across the state and said Medicaid cuts can significantly affect hospitals.
Still, Peters said cutting any of their services would only be a disservice.
"It's sad to hear what happened to East Adams Rural Healthcare," Peters said. "Unfortunately it's happening more often than we'd like to see in some of these rural hospitals, but in Newport, we've been doing pretty well here."
