New video gives a peak inside $112M hospital nearly done in Eastern WA wine country

Prosser Memorial Health is just a few months away from moving into its gleaming new hospital.

After two years of construction, work on the $112 million project is 90% complete and staff will begin moving in by the end of 2024, said Shannon Hitchcock, chief communications officer for the hospital and director of the foundation that supports it.

Hitchcock said Prosser Memorial expects to start seeing patients at the new building in February, after it secures a final occupancy permit and approval from the health department.

Prosser Memorial is a major employer in the heart of Washington wine country.

The current hospital on Memorial Street is a go-to medical destination for emergencies, births and routine health care for residents of Prosser and the Lower Yakima Valley.

Nearly 600 babies were born there in 2021, and there were more than 2,000 surgeries and 171,000 lab procedures.

All of that shifts to the new hospital next year, where Bouten Construction is putting the final touches on the 88,000-square-foot replacement. The hospital is owned and operated by the Prosser Public Health District.

It began scrutinizing its physical building a decade ago as the roof and other systems started failing, maintenance expenses rose and the facility fell increasing short of modern medical demands. Notably, it isn’t fully compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.

The old 25-bed facility was dedicated in December 1947 to the memory and service of World War II veterans. In the end, building a new hospital was more efficient than rebuilding the old one.

The public hospital district bought the 33-acre site north of Interstate 82 at Exit 80 2017. It broke ground in 2022 after securing approval from the Washington Department of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the city of Prosser.

Construction was valued at $78 million.

The hospital district is paying for its new hospital with $25.5 million from its own sources and an $80.5 million loan package from the USDA’s rural development program.

The Prosser Memorial Foundation is raising $3 million in private donations. The district did not seek voter approval for bonds or levies.

As a taxing district, the hospital levied nearly $1 million in property taxes this year, Benton County assessor records show.

The new Prosser Memorial will offer more of just about everything available at the hospital it is replacing: State-of-the-art surgical suites, more birthing options for maternity patients, family-friendly rooms, expanded ICU and cardiology capabilities and a larger emergency department.

A separate office building will provide space for medical specialists.

Go to prosserhealth.org

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