Washoe Med: Demand is rising

Demand for medical service in the

Truckee Meadows is growing rapidly

enough that Washoe Health Systems is

confident that its new hospital in the South

Meadows region won't erode admissions at

its downtown Reno facilities.

The health system's forecasts have been

good enough in the past to allow the new

facilities to be built more cost efficiently.

Here's how:

When Washoe Medical Center purchased

its property at South Meadows

Parkway and Double R Boulevard in the

1990s, much of Reno's population growth

clearly was headed in that direction.

But the timing wasn't right.

"You don't want to build the facilities

and have them standing empty," said Pat

Coward, chairman of the Washoe Health

Systems board.

Instead of building a hospital, the

organization built Washoe Village. That

facility, which opened in 1999, provides

rehabilitation, sub-acute, urgent and outpatient

care.

The Washoe Village structures were

built so they could be fairly easily converted

to a more traditional hospital as the area

continued to grow. In the current project,

medical-surgical beds and an intensive-care

unit will be added.

Scott Anderson, director of project

management, said the planning to convert a

portion of Washoe Village to a traditional

hospital will provide a boost to construction

crews who face a tight timeline.

The work is projected for completion in

early 2004.

The largest portion of the work, however,

is new construction that will add about

117,000 square feet to the campus.

A 51,000-square-foot addition to the

existing building will house a surgical suite,

laboratory and radiology department.

The Terrace at South Meadows, a

66,000-square-foot office building, will

provide space for physicians space that

Coward said is important to the success of

the entire project.

"It's key to get the physicians out here,"

he said.

The office building also will house the

Washoe Institute for Neurosciences, and

outpatient and urgent-care services will be

relocated from the existing structure.

The Washoe Health expansion is based

on a master plan that expects projects that

admissions will increase each year as the

region's population continues to climb.