MCMC seeks D21 land for new hospital

The next step is to get the property valued, and the district will ask a real estate broker for a “broker’s opinion of value,” Anderson said.

The challenge in setting a value is there are no comparable properties to check for what their sale price was, he told the Chronicle after the meeting.

Without the benefit of comparable sales, the broker will have to provide an estimated worth for a 30-acre parcel in city limits that is zoned low density residential. Anderson told the board that it should be doable to rezone the property for hospital use.

Once the district has the broker’s opinion of value, it will begin negotiating with the hospital on a price. An option is a guaranteed right to buy a piece of property, and a fee is paid by the entity seeking the option.

In the early 1990s, the school district bought 100 acres of land at Columbia View Heights, on the east end of town. The district at one time considered putting the middle school there. It is used as pasture now, Anderson said.

Last year the board voted to retain 30 acres for a possible future school site, and surplus the other 70 acres. School land starts behind the auction yard property and stretches to the Columbia View Heights housing development and the Oregon Veterans’ Home.

Now, the hospital sits on 38 acres, with 20 of them useable, said Athena Miller, a spokesperson for MCMC.

There is no timeframe for when groundbreaking would occur on a new hospital, she said, or what type of programming would be included.

As for funding construction, she said, “The MCMC board of trustees believes the hospital should have at least several years of consistently sound financial performance so we can obtain a favorable interest rate for construction funds. We ended Year 1 very well.”

Hospital CEO Dennis Knox said, “A 60-year-old facility is not built to accommodate today’s modern healthcare model. The cost of maintenance for an older facility is also much larger than for a modern facility. Therefore, we are looking to build a new facility, in a more accessible location, that will not hinder current operations during construction.”

Anderson said the school district was invited to a meeting with the hospital 20 months ago about siting a new hospital. After the hospital considered a number of options, “Columbia View Heights turns out to be the best choice,” he said.

The hospital was anxious to have the purchase option secured so they can move on with financing, Anderson said, telling the board it was an opportunity for the district to use land that was surplus to help healthcare in the community.

The land would be sold undeveloped, he said. All of it is within city limits.

Anderson said he’s been approached a couple times by people interested in the property.

The hospital would pay to put in streets and utilities to the hospital. Once part of the land is developed, Anderson said, “the other piece just gets more valuable every day.”

Phil Brady, chairman of the hospital board, was at the meeting and told the Chronicle after the meeting said the school property was desirable because it provided accessibility and room to develop.

The land is sloped, but its comparable to the slope on the hospital’s current site, and the grade can even be used in the design of the hospital, Brady said.

“We had envisioned rebuilding onsite and have changed that plan in large part to build a hospital that’s the right size for the community,” Brady said. “As models of care are changing, the design of the hospital should fit the new models of care.”