It was interesting for me to read Alejandro Gonzalez’ story in The Wenatchee World last week on neighbors’ reactions to expansion plans at Central Washington Hospital. I had hoped to try to get some of these reactions myself when I did the story on the new patient tower, but that’s one of those stories that’s so much easier, and better I think, with a trip to the neighborhood.
I live and work from my home in Twisp, and most of the time, a phone call works as well as a visit. But when it comes to neighborhoods and parking issues, a door-to-door approach is best.

Neighbors will, no doubt, be hit with dust and noise during construction of the hospital’s new tower. Some are also wondering whether the 200 additional parking spaces planned will be sufficient to alleviate parking problems.

In talking to the hospital’s CEO Jack Evans and chief operating officer John Hamilton, it’s evident they care how their hospital impacts neighbors. It’s not easy being a major medical facility in the middle of a residential area. It’s been hard for the hospital to expand when it has only 17 acres to work with. So, like other major institutions whose operations outgrow their surroundings, the hospital went looking for new property, and found it, on the east side of the Columbia River.

What is interesting to me is that when the hospital bought property near the Odabashian Bridge in Douglas County with a goal of building a new hospital there, Wenatchee residents expressed concern about losing the hospital. Even more telling, to me, is that neighbors, too, want the hospital to stay where it is. As Alejandro reported, neighbors agreed that the expansion is better than having the hospital move to the east side of the river. If ever the hospital can afford that new hospital they’ve been eying, I predict there will be a real sense of loss by the Wenatchee community.