Local News

A Prineville Icon to Close Next Month

PRINEVILLE, OR -- Crook County's Pioneer Memorial Hospital will close September 21, the same day St. Charles Prineville opens its doors. The Prineville operation was acquired by St. Charles Health System in 2008. CEO Jeanie Gentry says the future of the current hospital building is unclear; a community board will manage the building once it’s decommissioned as a hospital. "I know that the board does want to sell that building. There’s been quite a bit of discussion over the last year or two about some different ideas that they could work with the county or city on, but there’s really nothing set in stone at this point in time."

 

Gentry says the transition from the 65-year-old Pioneer Memorial Hospital to a brand new building has had some challenges. But she tells KBND the community is ready. "Most of the in-patient rooms were for double occupancy, so many of our patients may have been in a room with another patient right next to them, with just a curtain between them. That’s not the standard of care anymore. In the new facility, all of the rooms are private; they all have their own private bathrooms, private showers, they’re much larger so family members can stay over."
 
And, she says changes to the Emergency Room should cut down wait times for patients. "I know that over the past few years, especially the last two years, we’ve seen a drastic increase in utilization of our emergency room. Sometimes people really have to wait to be seen because we only have 7 beds in our current ER. In the new one, we’ll have 15 different rooms we can use; we’re really excited about that. "

 

The community is invited to a special closing ceremony Monday, August 17 at 4 p.m. to celebrate Pioneer Memorial’s legacy. Gentry says they’ll collect items for a time capsule to be placed at the new Prineville St. Charles hospital.

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