History

Bay Area Hospital has remained a stable facility through hard economic times because of sound fiscal management, dedicated board members, professional employees, a highly qualified medical staff and caring volunteers. The hospital prides itself on the fact that no public tax or bond monies are required to support its $110 million operating budget.

ALMOST SIXTY YEARS OF CARE

In 1952, local voters approved the formation of the Bay Area Health District, which encompasses most of Coos County. Eighteen years later, the District's Board of Directors voted to build a new medical facility to replace the area's two older hospitals. In May 1970, voters passed a $6.75 million hospital bond levy for construction of Bay Area Hospital.

 

Less than two years later, however, a citizen’s group tried to stop the hospital construction. A special election was called, and voters approved the construction plan in February 1972. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in April of that year, and two years later 8,000 visitors attended a dedication ceremony to honor the completion of the new 140-bed hospital.

On May 19, 1974, the hospital opened its doors and admitted its first 54 patients from Memorial and McAuley hospitals. Also that month, 27 new physicians opened local practices as a result of the new hospital. The Board of Directors responded to the strong community need and demand by approving a $4.8 million, 32-bed expansion that would be completed in December 1979.

 

The original construction bond was paid off and retired on July 1, 1987—15 years early. The organization quickly moved ahead with a $1.4 million general facelift. The newly remodeled Critical Care Unit opened in March 1988, and the maternity unit opened in October 1990.

An expansion of 43,000 square feet of new space and another 23,000 square feet of remodeled space was completed in 2000. A new lobby, entrance, admitting, emergency department, radiology, maternity services, surgical services, short stay center, laundry facilities and newly relocated helicopter pad were added to enhance patient care.

Bay Area Hospital will break ground in 2011 on a 97,000-square-foot expansion project to modernize and improve the overall healing environment at the hospital.

Part of Bay Area Hospital’s growth has included the expansion of specialty services and investment in technology. In 1990, for example, the hospital added a Radiation Therapy Center. Continued investments in new technologies included an integrated computer system in 1991 and a state-of-the-art CT scanner in the spring of 1997. Bay Area Hospital also began offering mammography and stereotactic breast biopsy services in July 1998 and added a $1 million angiography suite in December of that same year.

Ground was broken in July 1998 on a $14 million expansion. A newly remodeled Psychiatric Services opened in April 1999, new access roads were constructed in October and the hospital’s first website was unveiled in December. By 2000, the first phase of the new construction was complete, and new areas opened to support MRI, Maternity Services, Mammography Services, Surgery suites and the Emergency Department. The Sleep Center opened in 2001.

Also in 2001, a $30 million expansion was dedicated, and Bay Area Hospital was honored as one of only two hospitals on the West Coast to have the most technologically advanced linear accelerator in the industry for cancer treatment.

Major remodeling projects were completed in 2002 including the cafeteria, conference rooms, orthopedic unit and the second phase of the Laboratory. The hospital also sponsored $225,000 in development grants that were given to 18 local organizations (a program that has continued since then) and an additional nursing program instructor at Southwestern Community College to increase class size.

In 2003, Bay Area Hospital’s Continuing Medical Education program was honored by the Oregon Medical Association as an outstanding program and the Laboratory received the “Gold Standard” accreditation from the College of American Pathologists. Also, every department, employee, physician, volunteer and vendor completed HIPAA training on new federal privacy regulations and, in a collaborative program with Southwestern Community College, the first class of surgical techs graduated. Continued investments included the first hospital intranet site and the dedication of an outdoor recreational area for mental health patients.

The hospital and its Home Health services attained another three-year accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and the Tumor Registry was again accredited by the Commission on Cancer in 2004. Also, the Short Stay Center placed in the top four percent for overall care out of 83 West Coast hospitals in a Press Ganey survey, Critical Care was recognized in the top one percent in all categories compared to 463 other CCU’s in a nationwide patient satisfaction survey, and the Emergency Department attained the top 21 percent of 121 West Coast hospitals also in the nationwide patient satisfaction survey. In addition, a 16-slice CT was installed that same year, giving the hospital superior scanning capabilities.

Home Health was honored again in 2005 by scoring in the top eight percent of 7,500 Medicare-certified agencies for best practices in reducing hospitalizations. The Short Stay Center placed in the top four percent for overall care out of 83 West Coast hospitals, and, for the first time in the hospital’s history, the Laboratory achieved a perfect inspection from the College of American Pathologists Laboratory Accreditation Program.

Also in 2005, Bay Area Hospital continued to invest in its facilities and new technologies including a new outpatient psychiatric services clinic, a $1 million CT simulator with 3-D treatment planning at the Radiation Therapy Center, and a five-year, multimillion dollar contract with Siemens Medical Systems for implementation of a new clinical information system.

Bay Area Hospital gives Community Grants annually. Beginning in 2010, the Bay Area Hospital Community Foundation reviewed and awarded these grants to 21 local nonprofit organizations. Bay Area Hospital has an active Volunteer Auxiliary that has donated more than 800,000 hours and over $800,000 since its inception.

Bay Area Hospital received accreditation through the Joint Commission in 2004 and 2007. And in 2010, they received a Gold Seal of Approval for quality and patient safety. The Hospital has been a member of the South Coast Health Alliance since 2003 with three other hospitals.