Health corridor focus getting clearer now

Monday’s front page, upper-right corner Spokesman-Review headline was directed at some North Idaho residents.

Sure, it was Washington news, but it also served as a shot fired across some North Idahoans’ bows.

It read: Pullman Regional Hospital cuts pay

The secondary headline read: Center forced to take loan; ban on surgery makes impact

See where this is going? No? Then here’s a little more of a clue, the first two paragraphs of the article.

“Pullman Regional Hospital faces new financial strains spurred by the state’s COVID-19 pandemic regulations, and health care workers on the front lines will be hit hard.

“PRH announced Thursday it would cut all hourly and salary employees’ pay by 25% for the next 60 days.”

While it may seem numbing that a hospital would be this financially vulnerable at a time when it’s needed perhaps more than ever, and that the pandemic clearly is making life difficult for Pullman’s 25-bed facility, remember that many hospitals are struggling to make ends meet.

Just west of us, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane reportedly lost more than $100 million in the past few years. The idea that bigger is better — huge hospital chains gobbling up smaller regional hospitals — doesn’t necessarily hold true. Which brings us full circle to the Pullman headline’s point for North Idaho.

In Coeur d’Alene, we have one of the finest regional, community-owned hospitals anywhere. Its expansion since CEO Jon Ness arrived a decade ago has put Kootenai Health on solid long-term financial ground that will see it through today’s COVID-19-related challenges.

Some in North Idaho have railed against the city of Coeur d’Alene’s decision to create an urban renewal district that will further strengthen not just Kootenai Health’s position, but many other medical providers as our population continues to grow, and to grow older.

A non-binding, counter-productive advisory vote on urban renewal will appear on primary election ballots May 19. While urban renewal isn’t a perfect tool for economic development, its application for a health corridor in the heart of Kootenai County is appropriate and prudent.

There’s nothing like a pandemic to remind us how important a healthy local hospital can be.