Harrison sticking with what it has

Building a new 400-bed hospital is out of the financial range for Harrison Medical Center, but expanding the Silverdale campus remains one of the viable options spearheading the master facilities plan.

The cost of building a new facility was estimated at $600 million and was recently dismissed from the considerations in an ongoing process for a master facilities plan for Harrison. The alternatives, including expanding Harrison’s Silverdale campus, will be undertaken in phases, said Patti Hart, Harrison spokeswoman.

NBBJ architects’ Seattle office and Rice Fergus Miller, a Bremerton-based architecture and planning firm, are charged with developing the master facilities plan for Harrison and are expected present their recommendations in April. The medical center’s Vision 2010 study committee will then consider the architects’ findings before making a recommendation to HMC’s board of directors.

In the five-year strategic plan that is Vision 2010, Harrison is setting its sights on becoming the region’s leading health care provider and will keep Kitsap County as its primary service area but will reach further out as well.

Even though there are no conclusions drawn yet about the final draft of the master facilities plan, providing easy access from all parts of the region, SR 3 has been mentioned as a key transportation artery. Considering population and geography, Central Kitsap is the hub of the county. Both of these factors place Harrison Silverdale’s expansion within the top options considered in the master facilities plan.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.