Good Samaritan’s new $400 million patient tower will change healthcare in East Pierce County. The hospital’s emergency department will get more beds, imaging facilities to streamline care and trauma rooms next to the elevator leading to new operating rooms. Critical care rooms will include a family area where loved ones can sleep so they don’t have to leave. That’s a long way to come for our important regional hospital that lost close to $20 million between 2003 and 2005 and nearly had its accreditation yanked two years ago. It has been, in fact, a remarkable turnaround since being acquired by the MultiCare Health System. Hospital personnel are confident that if an audit were conducted tomorrow, Good Sam would receive a clean bill of health. And Good Sam has also turned its bottom line around, hitting a record and probably on-time margin of 11.8 percent. President and CEO John Long says the hospital will reinvest that money into its staff. So, things are looking good and even brighter for the completion of the tower in 2010. The hospital’s recent approval to add 50 more beds to the new patient tower, for a total capacity of 275 beds, puts it the same market as other mid-size facilities, such as Bellevue’s Overlake Hospital. There’s even more good news. Good Sam is making patient improvements right now, even before the three-year construction project begins. For starters, the emergency department has added two community liaisons to answer questions and provide information for anxious loved ones in the waiting room. Soon, patients can order room service direct from the hospital’s kitchen. If the experiment goes well the service will be offered to visitors and staff members. You might also notice a change coming to the Good Sam kiosk at the South Hill Mall. They will build a play area for children with two clinics where kids can get anything from shots to school physicals. We’re fortunate that MultiCare has returned Good Sam to a strong position. It’s an important institution in East Pierce that is not overlooking improvements today while planning for the future.
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