A proposed expansion at Bellingham’s PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center just got a huge shot in the arm. St. Joe’s announced today that Peter H. Paulsen, the developer who built the Hotel Bellwether, has donated $50 million for construction of a six-story addition to the hospital.
The new wing at the Bellingham hospital, to be called the Peter Paulsen Pavilion, will expand and improve the hospital’s emergency department and childbirth center. Plans also call for a helipad atop the 112,000-square-foot addition, according to a hospital press release.
The expansion is also intended to keep pace with Whatcom County’s growing population. The pavilion and renovation of existing patient areas will eventually increase hospital capacity from 238 patients to more than 325, hospital spokesperson Bev Mayhew said.
All of the treatment rooms in the upgraded emergency department will be private. Certain imaging equipment, including a CT scanner, will be available in the emergency department for quicker diagnoses.
And the added space in the emergency department will make it easier for family members to spend time with patients, PeaceHealth Chief Executive Charles Prosper said in a Thursday interview.
“We’re focused on making it a really healing environment for someone who is having a bad day, coming to our emergency department,” Prosper said.
The rest of the new pavilion will house the childbirth center along with expanded treatment areas for women and children. St. Joe’s will add a neonatal intensive care unit as part of the project, so babies who need that high level of care won’t need to be moved to a hospital in Seattle.
“It will be a significant improvement in the quality of life for that family,” Prosper said.
The hospital’s expansion plans, which also include a new parking garage, have been in the works for several years. Progress on the project slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Prosper said, but now the hospital anticipates construction will begin on the parking structure this summer, pending permit approvals.
The hospital, a Level III trauma center, must jump through more planning hurdles before breaking ground on the pavilion. Prosper hopes that can start in the summer of 2023.
Paulsen, who currently lives in Arizona, has given to not-for-profit PeaceHealth before, including a $100,000 donation to Whatcom Hospice. His $50 million gift is the largest donation PeaceHealth has ever received.
“His trust in PeaceHealth … will transform the health and well-being of those who live in the northwest Washington region for years to come,” PeaceHealth president and CEO Liz Dunne said in a press release. “We are deeply humbled by his generosity and inspired by his vision and hope for the future.”
