MOSES LAKE — Samaritan Healthcare officials will work to attain Level 3 trauma care status as part of its growth strategy. The organization’s strategic plan was presented to the hospital district commissioners May 30.

Currently the hospital is a Level 4 trauma center. “There are not very many (Level 3 trauma centers) on this side of the state,” said chief executive officer Teresa Sullivan. The nearest are in Wenatchee or Tri-Cities, she said.

“To be on an interstate, in an agricultural area, in a highly industrialized area and not have a Level 3 trauma center” within an hour’s driving distance, “that’s unfortunate. So this would be a great thing, I think, for our community if we were able to provide that,” Sullivan said.

Hospital district officials and commissioners have been working on the strategic plan for about eight months. Among other things the board hired the CPA firm CliftonLarsonAllen to help with the process.

Sullivan said she considers strategic planning to be an ongoing process. “Because it’s a road map. You’re constantly reevaluating to make sure that road map still holds true.”

Research conducted during the planning process showed that many district patrons who needed inpatient treatment – an estimated 70 percent – were going outside the region. “That means a lot of people are having to travel to get care that they legitimately could get here,” Sullivan said.

“There are certainly (health care services) that Samaritan won’t provide now or in the future, but we should be able to keep more care closer to home,” she said. Part of that is a physician development plan. “We want to grow the base of primary and specialty care providers.”

The hospital could develop new-to-Moses Lake services, like more options for orthopedic or cancer patients, or expand already-existing services like cardiac care.

The emergency room has been a focus of concern for a few months; some patients have been transferred, partly because there isn’t enough staff to ensure people stay in Moses Lake. ‘We’ve done a lot of work to try to reduce that,” she said. Hospital officials are looking at services that could be offered at Samaritan rather than transferring patients to other facilities, she said.

Sullivan said the hospital needs to evaluate the way it delivers care, because the idea of what constitutes the best standards is changing. Technology is changing the way people get health care, Sullivan said, and the hospital will have to adapt to those changes.

Hospital officials should work to encourage local people interested in medical careers. “If you can get kids from your community interested in health care careers, get them off to education, the likelihood of them coming back to work in your community is much higher, and the likelihood of them staying is much higher.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].