HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence - BOCCGRANT COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AGENDA MEETING REQUEST FORM
(Must be submitted to the Clerk of the Board by 12:00pm on Thursday)
REQUESTING DEPARTMENT: BOCC
REQUEST SUBMITTED BY: Barbara Vasquez
CONTACT PERSON ATTENDING ROUNDTABLE: Barbara Vasquez
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION: DYES ® NO
DATE: 3/7/Z024
PHONE:
DATE OF ACTION: -
APPROVE: DENIED ABSTAIN
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DATE OF ACTION: -
APPROVE: DENIED ABSTAIN
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March 8, 2024
The Honorable Patty Murray
United States Senate
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Dan Newhouse
U.S. House of Representatives
504 Cannon House Office Building -
Washington, D.C. 20515
GRANT COUNTY
OFFICE OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
P O BOX 37
EPHRATA WA 9BB23
(509) 754-2011
The Honorable Maria Cantwell
United States Senate
511 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
RE: Congressionally Directed Spending/Community Project Funding Request
J g—Coulee Medical
Center — Relief for the Rural Health Workforce Project
Dear Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell and Representative Newhouse
The Grant County Commissioners are pleased to support the Congressionally Directed
Spending/Community Project Funding request submitted b Coulee
y Medical Center to address
unique challenges facing the hospital's workforce.
Coulee Medical Center (CMC) is a Critical Access Hospital serving g Do uglas, Grant, Lincoln and
Okanogan Counties in North Central Washington State. Across this
sprawling rural area, which
includes portions of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, tion, CMC is the primary
access point to healthcare services and the only Trauma Level IV hospital. In fact, act, for many
families in the region, CMC is often the only hospital system within an hour drive of their home.
In providing care to such a large rural service area, CMC's healthcare workforce faces unique
challenges. Specifically, providers and medical professionals often'
have multi -
hour commutes,
necessitating a designated space for staff to rest and recuperate at the facility ty in between shifts.
Although CMC strives to provide appropriate accommodations for' '
this critical segment of the
healthcare workforce, the hospital's dormitorys is aging space g g and in desperate need of
renovation.
Danny E. Stone Rob Jones
District � Cindy Carter
District 2 District 3
"TO MEET CURRENT AND FUTURE NEEDS, SERVING TOGETHER WITH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENTITIESy WHILE FOSTERING
A RESPECTFUL AND SUCCESSFUL WORK ENVIRONMENT."
Through the Relief for the Rural Health Workforce Project, CMCan oses ro '
p p efficient and
responsible expansion of the hospital's capacity to provide support for their
pp personnel.
Specifically, federal investment will be utilized for the procurement of modular units that provide
safe, clean, and dependable dormitory space for staff to utilize between shifts. This investment
is not only essential to maintaining and strengthening CMC's abilityto provide ca
p re, but to
limiting the avoidable safety and health risks facing CMC's healthcare workers as a
result of their
long commute and the impact of fatigue.
With this in mind, we stand in strong
Spending/Community Project Funding request.
of this critical project.
Sincerely,
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Cindy Cart r, Chair
P
Danny . Stone, Vice Ch it
r
Rob Jo ember
support of CMC's Congressionally Directed
We appreciate your consideration and support
Barbara Vasquez
From: neilsenl@cmccares.org on behalf of Ramona Hicks <hick
sr1 @cmccares.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2024 6:08 PM
To: Barbara Vasquez
Subject: Letter of Support for Coulee Medical Center
Attachments: Coulee Medical Center_FY25 Earmark Project Letter of
J _ Support (00000002).docx
Dear Community Partner,
We need your help! Please consider signing this letter in support of Coulee Medical edical Center as our U.S.
Legislators for Congressionally Directed Spending/Communit Project Fundi •
Y J ng to a small community
of tiny houses for our hospital employees. We onlyhave one week to
get letters of support, please return
your signed letter by the end of the day on Thursday, March 14th. We wouldr
g eatly appreciate your help! If
you would please print this letter on your letterhead, fill in the blanks sign and d scan back to me, it would
make a huge impact on the chances of our proposalettin through the approval g g g process.
We have retained the services of a company that works with healthcare facilities to secure federal funding for
capital projects called Merchant McIntyre (MM). They are putting together a proposal to secure
congressionally directed spending (earmarks) for a project that is called "Relief for the Rural Health
Workforce Project".
Of all of the projects that we have listed on our strategic plan, MM felt that g p at houseng for staff makes the most
compelling story that would attract the most interest from our legislators. The e lack of available housing in our
area is a major concern and a roadblock for finding permanent staff to live in our
area. Many of our staff travel
from afar and stay in our available housing units to work three 12-hourshi'
fts and then go home. Our
dormitory facility in Coulee Dam, St. Rita's, is declining and becoming uninhabitable for our traveling
employees. We also have 9 rental units in the area to houseeo le and these p p rental units could be available
on the market for other families moving to the area.
Our first thought was to build an apartment complex. We worked with an architect to see what astick-built
apartment complex would cost and received a proposal of $14M. We were advised
by MM that the earmarked
funding would be nowhere near $14M! We -went back to the drawing board and came up with the idea of a
small community of tiny homes in the lot across the street from the hospital facility p tal facility (where the grain bins are
located) and this is a much more realistic budget. This comfortable convenient, and safe housing project
would draw more employees to our facility, which in turn, would have ao i ' • •
p stave impact our ability to
better meet the needs of our community.
Please contact me if you have any questions or want to meet with me in
person. I'm happy to come to you to
talk about the project and to pick up the letter. Thankou in advance for
Y your assistance.
Respectfully,
Ramona Hicks, RN CEO/CNO (She/Hers)
Coulee Medical Center
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