Friday, April 25, 2025
4/25/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - The Rural Healthcare for Seniors Project is designed to support the critical need in Jefferson County for high quality, comprehensive care in neurology, pulmonology, and ENT. Jefferson Healthcare, a publicly owned and operated critical access hospital and the only healthcare system in East Jefferson County. Residents in our community and their families currently must travel significant distances for these key services. Not only is traveling outside of Jefferson County for care disruptive to our patients but also their support systems; many rely on caregivers to drive them to and from their appointments. This has very real impacts on our economy. The burden of securing travel to these distant visits deters some patients from receiving care, despite its benefits for the long-term outlook of their health. Integrating neurology, pulmonology, and ENT services into Jefferson Healthcare will provide huge benefits to our patients and their health outcomes. The Port Townsend area is projected for significant population growth over the next decade, and this combined with the average age of our community creates a compelling need for additional service options on the Peninsula. Jefferson County’s population and the percent aged over 65 will continue to grow. In 2035, OFM has projected a population of 38,600 with 40% of the population being 65+. This creates an increased need for appropriate, comprehensive, and whole-person treatment options right here at home. The Rural Healthcare for Seniors Project will support opening a new clinic. This clinic will serve hundreds of patients annually who otherwise would have had to travel at least one hour each way to specialty clinics in neighboring counties, across the Hood Canal Bridge, and back. The Rural Healthcare for Seniors Project is a distinct project within a larger hospital modernization and expansion build which will replace an aging building that has outlived its useful life and expand clinical space to provide a significant number of additional healthcare service lines. By integrating this project within the larger hospital replacement, we can save direct costs as well as capitalize on staff and management time to complete this project. The total project cost for the hospital modernization and expansion build is $96,000,000 and will be a 56,000 square foot building that houses additional service lines such as diagnostic imaging, LINAC and oncology, outpatient surgery, and an expanded and modernized space for our OBGYN Clinic. The total cost of the Rural Healthcare for Seniors Project is $9,600,000. This space will be 9,909 square feet total. The appropriation is for $2,000,000 and will complete the project when combined with local funding.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).