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2024 NORTH OREGON COAST PROVIDER DIRECTORY Serving Tillamook and Clatsop Counties
Serving North Tillamook County since 1996
Thursday, May 2, 2024 | Vol. 31, Issue 8
www.northcoastcitizen.com
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Bonamici visits Tillamook WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
(From left to right) Rockaway Beach City Councilor Mary McGinnis, Public Works Superintendent Dan Emerson and Planning Commission President Bill Hassell remove one of the signs forbidding beach access.
Rockaway reopens beaches to public access On April 23, Rockaway Beach officially removed signs forbidding access to its beaches, ending an access moratorium forced by a legal ruling calling governmental recreational immunity into doubt. The question was temporarily
addressed by the Oregon legislature in this year’s session with a bill that allowed cities to pass ordinances reinstating their recreational immunity until the end of 2025. Legislators have vowed to craft a permanent solution in next year’s
long legislative session and the desire for additional opportunity for input by trial lawyers has been cited as the delaying factor. After Rockaway Beach’s city council passed an ordinance opting into the temporary recreational im-
munity scheme at their April meeting, Councilor Mary McGinnis, Public Works Superintendent Dan Emerson and Planning Commission President Bill Hassell gathered on April 23, to help remove the signs.
United States Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici was in Tillamook for stops at Adventist Health Tillamook and the county courthouse on April 24. At Adventist, Bonamici toured the hospital’s facilities and visited with staff about rural healthcare challenges and at the courthouse she held a meeting with county commissioners before presenting a $1 million check in support of the Three Rivers Fiber Broadband project. “I got the message loud and clear that this is a concern in Tillamook County,” Bonamici said, referring to broadband connectivity, “and so between the bipartisan infrastructure bill that we passed and the American connectivity program, I know there’s still needs and so that’s why I put in the request.” Bonamici’s visit started at Adventist Health Tillamook where Patient Care Executive Heather Thompson, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Welch and Finance Officer Micah Smith showed her around the hospital. The tour started in the hospital’s radiology department, which is in the midst of a $1.2 million upgrade. The group then made their way through the emergency department, surgery suite and See BONAMICI, Page A6
Nehalem Bay Pharmacy now offers patients Prescription Pick-up Locker Nehalem Bay Pharmacy has installed a secure automated Prescription Pick-up Locker that offers an option for individuals to pick up certain prescriptions without necessarily having to visit the pharmacy. The locker is located in the lobby of the Nehalem Bay Health Center. For patients and
The current pre- and post-operative areas in Adventist Health Tillamook’s surgery suite. The three beds in each restrict the department’s capacity.
Adventist Health Tillamook announces surgery suite addition, modernization WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
Adventist Health Tillamook is preparing for an addition to its surgery suite and modernization of existing facilities, with the $16.8-million project set to begin later this year. The expansion will in-
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crease the number of available operating rooms from three to four and greatly improve the unit’s capacity by adding additional preand post-operative beds. Adventist Health Tillamook President Eric Swanson said that the project was prompted when staff noticed serious foundation settling occurring in part of the suite constructed in 1995. Currently, there are three operating rooms in the suite, as well as one room that can be used exclusively for scoping procedures. The unit only has three beds apiece for patients preparing for and
recovering from surgeries, which Swanson said leads to delays in moving patients from operating to recovery rooms due to a lack of availability. The new addition will be built in a courtyard at the rear of Adventist Tillamook’s third street location, with the four operating rooms housed in the newly constructed portion. The existing suite, formerly the hospital’s emergency department, will be converted into pre- and postoperative beds and storage for supplies, many of which are currently housed in the unit’s hallways. The project will be
divided into three phases, with the first consisting of adding the new operating rooms, before the renovation of the existing structure. This will allow operations to continue throughout construction, which will begin this fall or winter with the addition expected to be complete in 2025 and all three phases by 2027. Funding for the project is coming from Adventist Health’s capital management fund and while renderings are not yet available, Swanson said that he expects the exterior will be clad in brick like the rest of the building.
customers who want to learn more about the new locker, the Pharmacy Team will give a detailed demonstration/tutorial of the system on Thursday, May 9 at Noon. Patients and customers who are curious about the new system are invited to attend and see how the new system See PRESCRIPTIONS, Page A6