Health care services for rural residents in northeast Washington will expand under a new project.
NEW Health has announced plans to expand Chewelah’s health care services in the next couple of years, which would add dental and in-person behavioral health services to the area. The organization has purchased land on the south end of Chewelah for the new site. The news release states they plan to finish the first phase by 2027, although it’s unclear what that would include. NEW Health didn’t respond to several requests for comment.
“The project in Chewelah is central to our 8 other clinical sites and strengthens the regional healthcare and workforce for current and future generations,” Desiree Sweeney, CEO of NEW Health, said in the news release.
Health care services, in the rural town of about 2,552 people, have been cut over the past year. In August, Chewelah saw closures of orthopedic services and the DominiCare program at Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital, a companion-based program that serves older people who need nonclinical home services.
Providence attributed the decision to multiple financial pressures, including cuts to state and federal funding for Medicare and Medicaid, higher costs related to state policies, payment denials from insurers, and rising labor and supply costs.
“These headwinds will only intensify,” the release said, after congressional Republicans in July passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which imposed restrictions on Medicaid eligibility intended to cut an estimated $1 trillion in spending by 2034.
In November, NEW Health acquired $2 million after Congress approved funding for multiple projects requested by Washington state’s representatives in the House and Senate.
In previous reporting by Spokane Public Radio, Sweeney hinted the funding would be used for dental and health access for future generations in northeastern Washington.
“We cover about 5,600 square miles in Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille (counties), as well as having a mobile unit that deploys out to school for physicals, dental access days, career fairs, health fairs,” Sweeney said in November. “The reach for this project would go far beyond Chewelah and really impact the entire eastern region.”
Mayor Lindsay Baxter said the expansion to Chewelah’s health services will help increase jobs and bring needed health care to the rural community where cuts continue to affect residents.
“Myself and our city administrator have been involved quite a bit in the discussions, making sure that we’re removing barriers to make it as easy as possible for new health to accomplish their goal,” Baxter said.
One of those discussions included remodeling a former middle school for the expansion. However, renovation costs and structural limitations changed their plans, according to the news release.
Mike Frizzell, Chewelah public works director, said from a development standpoint, the expansion will become a “trademark” for the rural area.
He said he’s lived in the area long enough to remember when Alcoa Corporations – a facility that produced magnesium and processed materials for fertilizer – was the area’s largest employer, with an estimated 500 jobs.
The facility stopped production in 2001.
“I watched that go away and saw how it’s affected the entire town, the school district, the restaurants, all of that,” Frizzell said. “The opportunity to add this many more jobs is a move in the right direction.”
