Welcome, St. Anthony! Long-awaited Gig Harbor hospital opens its doors on St. Patrick's Day

Susan Schell

Mar. 18, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- It could be the luck of the Irish. But it was more likely just a lot of hard work, planning, community support and a commitment to excellence that opened the doors of Gig Harbor's first hospital on St. Patrick's Day. Early Tuesday morning, staff members dressed in scrubs and hospital uniforms formed a large semi-circle in the emergency room lobby while a TV news reporter prepared to introduce the hospital to the world.

As the minutes counted down before the camera rolled, Carole Peet, the hospital's COO, joked, "This is more nerve-racking than everything we've done in the past six months."

The crowd gave a rousing cheer in front of the camera for the morning news, and then it was all over.

St. Anthony was open for business.

St. Anthony wows the crowd

Members of the community and donors were welcomed in grand style to the new facility during the official opening and ribbon cutting ceremony Friday night.

Jim Good, vice president of specialty services for the Franciscan Health System, said the hospital's state-issued Certificate of Need was granted in record time. Rick Larson, co-chair for the Campaign for St. Anthony, said the facility is only the second hospital in the state to be granted a certificate since 1987.

"The message was clear," Good said. "The peninsula needs a hospital, and we need it now. As we look at this magnificent facility, it will have an immediate impact in these hard times."

A major impact has been creating new jobs, from construction crews to individuals with health care experience. The hospital took on 450 new hires in the past six months.

Michael Rowan, executive vice president and COO of Catholic Health Initiatives, said the hospital passed its licensure inspection with no deficiencies.

"This has been the most rewarding experience I have had in my 35 years as a health care executive," he said.

Carolyn Schultz, president of FHS, said the hospital was reviewed with no recommendations, which is "highly unusual."

Schultz credits Peet and her staff for that accomplishment.

"This reflects our commitment to excellence," Schultz said. "Carole Peet kept an eye on the target and stayed cool, calm and collected."

Peet said the past six months have been both exciting and challenging.

"We have recruited some of the best, and everyone is dedicated to teamwork," she said.

Bill Rose, vice president of the St. Anthony medical staff who works in Key Center, touched on the benefits the hospital will offer residents who live far from town.

"For years, we've been the farthest away from any hospital," he said. "Now we have one in our backyard. For residents of the Key Peninsula, it will no longer take an hour for the ambulance to get us to the hospital. This is more than just a Franciscan hospital, it's our community hospital."

Sharon Snuffin, co-chair for the Campaign for St. Anthony, said the hospital received $15.5 million in gifts and donations, exceeding its $10 million goal.

"We did this despite a very difficult economy," she said.

The power of art and atmosphere

Architects, planners and FHS officials promised to move away from an all-white, sterile-looking hospital -- and they've accomplished it.

The exterior, with its muted, natural colors and stonework, is a far cry from the institutional look of past hospitals. Fountains with cascading water run alongside split-log benches that blend into the structure's wooded setting.

The interior boasts seating areas with comfortable furniture seated around fireplaces that beckon visitors to sit and have a cup of coffee. Waiting room areas resemble a hotel lobby more than a hospital.

Ginny Scalzo, an art consultant for Arterra, had an opportunity to place all of the artwork inside the hospital. She worked closely with local artists who were commissioned to decorate the building, and she helped keep a Pacific Northwest theme.

St. Anthony has some unusual pieces for a hospital, including a dugout canoe and totem poles. Every patient room features a framed print of a photograph taken in the Gig Harbor area.

"It's fun seeing everybody react to the art and watching the staff, their delight," Scalzo said. "Everything was an adventure every day, just knowing how many people will see this art and how it will help them heal. It's art that's on a level people can appreciate."

Wood carver Steve Jensen was commissioned to create the unique totem poles for the elevator lobby. The sculptor used naturally fallen cedar from Southworth to craft the three pieces.

"I was given certain themes that had to be incorporated into the totems," he said. "They were themes like, 'Canticles of Creation,' 'Brother Wind' and 'Heart.'"

Themes of nature and healing undulate throughout the simple yet complex looking totem poles.

Gig Harbor artist Mardie Rees spent nearly a year perfecting the bronze statue of St. Anthony of Padua that stands in the hospital's main lobby.

State-of-the-art technology

Back in patient exam rooms and throughout the emergency room, St. Anthony's medical staff will have their hands on the finest and the most modern technical equipment.

"When you look at any established hospital, they're constantly in a state of remodel," said Gail Robinette, media relations manager for FHS. "This hospital design reflects space for existing medical technology with the best use of space and understanding of patient needs.

"This is as modern as it gets."

Hospital staff was particularly interested in integrating a human element into the design and gleaning ideas from experts in the field who had personal knowledge of how a hospital should operate.

"During the hospital design phase, we brought in physicians and nurses," Robinette said. "That provided ideas based on work experience. The architects were able to get the best thoughts from the front line."

All hospital personnel will wear color-coded uniforms so patients will know who they're talking to. That should help prevent the need for telling their story to several individuals, Robinette said.

A couple weeks before the hospital opened, Kathy Bay, director of the emergency department, conducted a walk-through with officials from Kennewick who toured St. Anthony to get ideas for a new hospital they are building.

Also during that time, the halls were crawling with machinery technicians who were fine-tuning and calibrating medical equipment.

Rick Wendt, manager of diagnostic imaging services, was eager to show off the state-of-the-art technology offered in his department. Each piece operates in real time, and camera images transmitted during an exam can be viewed by the technician or physician as they happen.

"The streaming video line images are instantly transmitted from the ultrasound to the radiologist, who can be sitting in front of the computer," Wendt said. "There's no delay with taking the time for a picture to develop.

"We can have a final report before the patient gets back to the emergency room. This cuts down the turnaround time from a day or so to a few hours."

The MRI equipment offers no-contrast imaging, which means a patient doesn't have to be injected with dye for an image to show up. X-ray equipment is mobile and can be moved around a patient rather than moving a patient who can be in pain or have mobility problems.

Wendt praised the hospital's partnership with Toshiba.

"They have had some awesome offerings for this hospital," he said.

Throughout the hospital, Toshiba technicians stood with hospital personnel who were gathered around pieces of equipment, training them on the minute operations.

In the patient rooms, comfort and privacy was carefully integrated with the latest means to monitor patient safety. All private rooms are equipped with telemetry capability to monitor heart rhythms around the clock. The transmission of the heart rhythms shows up on computers at the front "team stations," so they can be watched at all times.

Monica Starkweather, clinical manager for the medical/surgery department, said the term "nurse's stations" were replaced with "team stations," since other people use them besides nurses.

"There's a constant communication capability not only between the patients' rooms and the team stations, but between the team stations themselves," she said.

Starkweather pointed to the family friendly rooms with fold-out day beds where visitors can sleep. Bed alarms can be set by staff that monitor if a patient has left the bed, in cases where someone might be in danger of falling.

"It used to be that family members got kicked out after visiting hours," she said. "But we want patients to heal, and having family around is a big part of that."

Clinical manager Laura Meacham said family also is accommodated in the intensive care unit.

"That's very unusual for an ICU unit to allow patients' families to stay," she said.

The ICU rooms have sound-proofed, sliding glass doors that, when shut, contribute to peace and quiet so the patient can sleep.

"This way, the nurse always has a complete visualization of the patient," Meacham said. "Each room is equipped with cardiac monitors. Everything is mobile and can be deployed to be right next to the patient."

The ICU rooms also have large window spaces to allow for natural light.

"The first day we came here, we were stunned that this place was so beautiful," Meacham said.

Even after being a registered nurse for 18 years, Starkweather was eagerly anticipating St. Anthony Hospital's opening day.

"There's just not that many hospitals being built," she said. "So to be a part of this is the biggest thing that's happened in my career."

St. Anthony facts and figures

New jobs: St. Anthony Hospital created 481 jobs for physicians, nurses and other health care professionals.

Hospital service area: Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, South Kitsap County, North Mason County.

Healing environment: The hospital's design and construction feature natural stone, wood and glass. Large windows allow plenty of natural light to bathe the interior of the hospital while providing views of the healing garden, campus and nearby forest. All patients' rooms are private, one patient per room, and are large enough for family members to spend the night. Original works of art, created especially for the hospital, are featured inside and outside the facility. The chapel is open to people of all faiths.

Hospital size: About 260,000 square feet, including space on the fifth floor for an additional 32 beds in the future.

Cost: About $160 million, funded by Franciscan Health System and Catholic Health Initiatives.

Fun Fact: St. Anthony is only the second brand-new hospital approved for construction by Washington State's rigorous certificate of need process since the mid-1980s.

Medical office building: A sky bridge connects St. Anthony Hospital and the adjacent medical office building, called the Milgard Medical Pavilion. The 85,000-square-foot medical office building is home to doctors offices, the Jane Thompson Russell Cancer Care Center, the Smalling Family Education Center and other services.

Parking: The St. Anthony Hospital campus provides parking for about 700 vehicles.

General Contractor: Sellen Construction Co., Seattle.

Architect: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca ZGF, Architects LLP, Seattle.

Landscaping: Natural landscaping has been preserved on more than half of St. Anthony Hospital's 37-acre site. The property includes wetland areas and a stream still traveled by salmon.

Name: St. Anthony Hospital is named after St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of sailors and fishermen, to honor the maritime heritage of Gig Harbor and surrounding peninsula communities.

From start to finish

Aug. 25, 2003: Franciscan Health System submits its application for a Certificate of Need to the Washington State Department of Health to build a 112-bed, acute-care hospital in Gig Harbor North, off Canterwood Boulevard.

Jan. 29, 2004: More than 200 people attend the Washington State Department of Health's public hearing in Gig Harbor in an overwhelming show of support for the hospital.

May 14, 2004: The state Department of Health approves construction of an 80-bed hospital in Gig Harbor.

April 2004: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, ZGF, one of the nation's premier designers of hospitals and health care facilities, is chosen as the architect for St. Anthony Hospital and its medical office building.

April 2004: Sellen Construction Co., one of the leading construction companies in the Northwest, is named general contractor for the project.

July through September 2004: Franciscan begins the City of Gig Harbor's project-review and permit-application process for new construction.

June 2005: Development of St. Anthony Hospital halts when the city determines the traffic congestion that will be caused by non-hospital projects must be addressed before any new construction can be approved in Gig Harbor North.

Spring 2006: Gov. Christine Gregoire signs House Bill 2670, giving the City of Gig Harbor a special financing tool to generate funds to pay for the "big fix" for traffic congestion in Gig Harbor North. The legislation was introduced and championed by state Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, state Rep. Patricia Lantz, D-Gig Harbor, and then-state Sen. Bob Oke, R-Port Orchard.

Spring 2006: The Washington State Community Economic Development Board recommends that the City of Gig Harbor receive a $5 million state grant to help the city pay for road improvements in Gig Harbor North. The grant is approved during the 2007 session of the Legislature. Franciscan staff helped the city write its grant application.

April 9, 2007: Clearing and grading of the hospital construction site begins.

April 26, 2007: A groundbreaking ceremony is held for St. Anthony Hospital.

December 2007: Construction begins on the 85,000-square-foot St. Anthony Medical Office Building, which will be located next to the hospital.

Dec. 14, 2007: A "Topping Out" ceremony celebrates the completion of the steel installation for the hospital.

Aug. 14, 2008: Representatives from all faiths are invited to write their signatures and prayers on the wall of the chapel during the chapel blessing ceremony.

Oct. 29, 2008: The 2 1/2-ton source stone is drilled to create a fountain of flowing water and serve as the centerpiece for the hospital's outdoor healing garden.

March 17, 2009: St. Anthony Hospital opens.

Gail Robinette, media relations manager for the Franciscan Health System, contributed to this report. Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.

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