EPHRATA - A $13 million construction bond for Columbia Basin Hospital is passing, with 62 percent of voters approving the measure.

According to the Grant County Auditor's Office, 62.89 percent of voters approved the measure, while 37.11 percent rejected it.

The bond will pay to modernize facilities at the hospital, said Controller Rhonda Handly on Monday.

One project is remodeling the hospital's current double-occupancy rooms into single-occupancy rooms with larger bathrooms, she said. The current bathrooms are too small to accommodate patients in wheel chairs, and single-occupancy rooms help curb the spread of communicable diseases, she said.

The bond will also pay for building a larger physical therapy area, a larger lab, and remodeling the hospital's nursing home, she said.

Taxpayers are currently paying 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for a hospital bond through 2015, said Handly. With the hospital's current maintenance and operations levy, taxpayers pay 96 cents per $1,000, she said.

The new bond will add 93 cents through 2015, meaning taxpayers will pay approximately $1.89, she said. After the old bond drops off, the expected cost to taxpayers is $1.65 for both the bond and the M&O levy, she said.

The support of the taxpayers has raised the bar for the hospital in terms of financial accountability and quality of care, said Handly.

"They've given confidence in us that they feel that that's what we're going to provide, is outstanding care, and be diligent in how we run our business here," she said.