|
Southwest Washington Medical Center shows off plans, $146 million project to be
finished in 2006
Eight-story tower to cap Southwest Washington
Medical Center's $146 million expansion at Mill Plain campus. Private rooms will
accommodate family visitors
An eight-story, 154-single-bed patient room expansion,
which is of Southwest Washington Medical Center’s Mill Plain campus was
presented to the public Wednesday. It is part of the medical center’s $164
million expansion, which is already underway and is expected to be completed by
December 2006.
Expansion at the 32-acre campus also includes an
additional 612 parking spaces, as well as a centralized electrical and
mechanical plant that will serve “state-of-the-art” electronic medical record
keeping, a medical imaging network, digital imaging storage, and archiving of
all diagnostic imaging services.
The medication dispensing system will be automated and
verified by bar codes. Patient registration services will be decentralized to
the individual patient rooms. Patients will also have entertainment and
information systems at their bedside.
Private rooms will provide accommodations for family
members.
The new heart and vascular center in the tower includes
new laboratories and two dedicated open-heart surgery suites, and 13 new surgery
suites for trauma, general and orthopedic surgery.
During the heavy construction phase, valet parking
services will be available for both patients and their families.
Southwest Washington Medical Center, southern
Washington’s largest employer—3,200 employees—is a community-owned nonprofit
medical institution.
Voters will write ballot statements
for
C-TRAN’s November sales tax measure
Six Clark County voters have been selected to write
statements for the Clark County Voters’ Pamphlet. Three will write statements
favoring the proposed .3 percent sales tax increase; three will write statements
opposing the increase.
Those drafting the opposing statement will be
Millie Martin, Larry Martin and
Frances Rutherford. The supportive
statement will be crafted by Mike Worthy,
David Cooper, and Battle Ground mayor
John Idsinga.
The transit agency’s board of directors is asking voters
for a .3 percent sales tax increase, which would double the current sales tax
support base, to bring C-TRAN’s budget back to the position it held before
Initiative 695 took away motor vehicle excise tax support from all public
transit agencies in the state. By law, C-TRAN could have opted for a .6 percent
increase.
If the increase is approved, C-TRAN will be on solid
financial footing, according to its board. Without the increase, routes and
service will be severely restricted, likely eliminating routes outside
metropolitan Vancouver.
A 50 percent majority will determine whether the measure
passes at the Nov. 2 general election.
County home sales lagging state
numbers
While sales of homes reached statewide record levels in
the second quarter of 2004, the Clark County housing market lagged the state in
percentage increases.
A record 49,020 homes were sold across the state, a 15.1
percent increase; but Clark County homes sales increased by only 11.4 percent.
According to Washington State University data, 2,050 homes were sold in the
county during April, May and June.
The number of residential building permits declined
during the second quarter by 10.9 percent. One thousand local permits were
issued.
The median price for a single family residence in the
state was a record high, $223,700. The median price in Clark County was
$182,500. The lowest median home price was in Columbia County, $75,000; in San
Juan County, the median was $329,000.
Five Guys Named Moe concludes
Six-to-Sunset series in Esther Short Park tonight
Five Guys Named Moe
entertain this evening in Esther Short Park, concluding the 2004 Riverview
Six-to-Sunset free concert series. Although named Five Guys Named Moe, the band
is an 11-member aggregation and includes two females. They play 1950s Doo Wop,
1960s rock-n-roll and Motown tunes.
Concert goers are advised to bring blankets or low-back
chairs. Food vendors are in attendance. No alcohol is allowed. Parking in the
city Park-n-Go lot at 6th and Columbia streets is 50 cents an hour.
Motorcyclists entertain at the county
fair today
Billed as “Extreme ‘Big Air’ Motorcycles,” trick riders
perform in two free shows at the Clark County fair today, at 2 p.m. and 7:30
p.m. at the Columbian Concert Stage area. Also on the bill are
Quad Wars and Mini Warriors, another
bust-’em-up show.
Today’s shows are free with the $8 price of admission to
the fair. Parking is $5. C-TRAN bus transportation is free. The 136th annual
Clark County Fair continues through Sunday, Aug. 15.
News briefs
Free Vancouver-Portland area bus service, due to bad air
days, is extended through Friday, Aug. 13.
gg The Vancouver Design Review Committee meets at 4 p.m. this afternoon
in the 4th floor conference room in the Citizens Service Center, 1313 Main
Street. The committee will review the Esther Short Streetscape improvements and
a proposed election drop-off box location in the middle of W 14th Street just
west of Esther Street.
Bush may
announce Columbia dredging approval tomorrow--Columbian, Erik Robinson
California Supreme Court voids same-sex marriages--USA TODAY, AP
Gay New Jersey governor quits after citing an affair--New York
Times, Christine Hauser
Southwest Washington Medical Center plans unveiled--Columbian,
Julia Anderson
PDX to get $20 million corridor--Columbian, Gretchen
Fehrenbacher
FFA still a big part of the county fair--Columbian, Scott
Hewitt
Dow Jones falls to lowest level of the year--USA TODAY,
MarketWatch.com, Susan Lerner
PGA Championship Leaderboard
NPR 5-minute hourly news updates (Audio)
|
