SoHum Health Selects Architects for New Garberville Hospital and Clinic Design
Press release from SoHum Health:
Ratcliff Architects and SoHum Health leadership begin the Planning Development Phase for a new hospital and clinic in Garberville. Left to right: Board Member, Jay Sooter; CEO, Matt Rees; Board Member, Barbara Truitt; Chief Financial Officer, Paul Eves; Chief Operations Officer, Kent Scown; Principal Architect, Doug Strout; Board Member, Kevin Church; Chief Nursing Officer, Adela Yanez; Senior Associate, Michael Hsu; Foundation Development Director & Outreach Manager, Chelsea Brown
Ratcliff Architects out of Emeryville, CA have been selected for the master planning and design of a new hospital and clinic building in Garberville. The new facility to be located at 286 Sprowel Creek Road, will replace Jerold Phelps Community Hospital and SoHum Community Clinic’s current building, which is unable to meet approaching statewide seismic requirements. The project steering committee held their kick-off meeting in April 2023, officially beginning the Planning and Concept Site Development Phase of the endeavor.
Founded in 1906, Ratcliff Architects have built a reputation for designing spaces that integrate physical, functional, and cultural elements in artful and holistic ways. The firm has extensive experience designing healthcare facilities and community hospitals throughout California including projects for UCSF, Stanford, and Kaiser. Principal architect, Doug Strout brings 38 years of experience in master planning projects ranging from large medical campuses to small community hospitals. His design approach combines the technical demands of modern healthcare facilities with the need for sensitive, healing environments. To view a portofilio of Ratcliff’s work in healthcare visit: ratcliffarch.com/healthcare
In the coming months Ratcliff will meet with key stakeholders and SoHum Health leadership to gather information about priorities, work flows, and functions. The team will draft options for building placement, entrances, parking, wayfinding, and other key components of the design, while engineers analyze the topography of the site and map out access to utilities. Through this process the entire organization is able to participate in the design process and consider what may be possible for the community, with a new building that is specifically designed for them.
SoHum Health’s project steering committee is keenly focused on designing a facility that reflects the values of Southern Humboldt and meets community health needs in the most efficient and insightful way possible. It is estimated that Jerold Phelps Community Hospital and SoHum Community Clinic will move into the new facility in January 2029. SoHum Health would like to extend a special thank you to the many capital campaign donors whose monetary pledges are making this project possible.
SoHum Health is a California Special Healthcare District that operates Jerold Phelps Community Hospital, Southern Humboldt Community Clinic, Southern Humboldt Family Resource Center, and Garberville Pharmacy. For more information about the many services they provide for the community, visit sohumhealth.org or call (707) 923-3921.
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Better check with PG&E to see if electricity is available.
Our team has been in regular contact with PG&E executives regarding their ability to power the new facility. They have assured us that they will have the capacity to do so by the time construction is complete. Thank you for your concern!
Better get it in writing.
Don’t get me wrong, I think you guys are a great asset to the community.
It’s my faith in PG&E that comes into play.
Hopefully there will be a robust solar power & integrated battery storage system as well as backup generator power designed into this project. Power outages are so frequent here that depending on PG&E is not acceptable.
Will this new facility provide wemens health services? Prenatal ECT?
This was addressed and it’s a go. PGE included the hospital in their current needs assessment.
So who will be the new CEO?
Hopefully the person selected will live in the District, and won’t hire his family members…
Good luck SoHum Health!
They might build a new building, but you won’t be able to park there. Or land a Helicopter.
A dedicated helipad requires another layer of state red tape for annual permits and they aren’t free.
The airport is 5 minutes away. Or less in an ambo.
So park at the airport?
Hopefully, your patients will live long enough to be transfered. And they can afford an ambo ride AND a helicopter ride…
Just had to take my mom to see Doctor Emily–wonderful experience of caring folks gently moving us through a rough time. Then we went to the new pharmacy where the pharmacist went above and beyond to correct a mistake we had made so my mom got her medicine as quickly as possible. Everything was a lovely as it could be right down to the freezer with ice cream bars that comforted my ill mom. I’ve never seen a health care facility move so smoothly and help the community so much as SoHum Health has the last few years.
They give out ice cream bars?
Sorry to hear about your mom. Hope she is doing better.
We had to buy the ice cream but it was lovely to have that option. Mom has shingles which is horrifically painful and can last for weeks. This is really hard.
Sorry to learn about your mom’s shingles. I’m still suffering from nerve damage caused by a January 2022 case. People over 50 should absolutely, positively receive the zoster vaccine to avoid the pain and permanent nerve damage that shingles can inflict. These vaccines are often available at your pharmacy and are most often covered by health insurance/MediCare.
I highly recommend getting the vaccine also. I’ve just watched another family member with it and it was incredibly painful.
Yikes. I was just at the pharmacy to get my shingles vaccine. My friend just got a case of shingles and no way I would want to get it. Hope your mom recovers quickly
I don’t think people realize how fortunate we are to have this level of medical facilities in a small community. Back in the 90s some folks thought we were done. Folks here decided to step up and tax themselves to have a 24 hr E.R. We can thank Jim Lamport, Steve Bowen, and most of all Nancy Wilson among others for what we have.
Bless you and your mom Kim. I am very pleased to hear such great positive news about the pharmacy. Hope your mom feels much better soon. Maybe the ice creams bars will keep the doctor away.
Just spoke with a person at the hospital. PG&E gave assurance of power for the new facility. They don’t plan on a helipad because of permit requirements and might do a helistop (not sure what the difference is). Easy to find out if you ask!
Who ever it was you spoke with, did they show you something in writing from PG$E? Its normal for a new project using PG$E service would issues a letter, stating PG$E has the capacity to serve the new project. For example, it would look like this:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13e5UZS3SrGmO772gEjSpuwB71Tw-0T0w/view?usp=sharing
Until SHCHD can make a letter like this public, its still not a done deal, just hearsay and speculation…
No electricity, no hospital.
This was already addressed with PGE and it is a go.
It would be nice if the old school building could be used as at least an inspiration for the style of the new building. I looked at the architect’s other work and it is very sterile and uncomforting. Lets get something we can truly be proud of as a community.
Anyone know what year the current building was constructed? Just curious. Seems like they got their money’s worth out of it. I am guessing 1940s or before. Lots of history in that old hospital.
https://sohumhealth.org/news/local-hospital-history/
The Hospital Foundation had posted this in Nov 2022:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nBssUc6sZXxBbG0I64-SeFju15TVw1Ev/view?usp=sharing
Since the 2022 2nd Quarter Financial Statement was submitted by the Hospital Foundation to the SHCHD Board for approval (see link below) the SHCHD no longer makes the Foundation Quarterly Financial Statements open to the public?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/175voZmNDlGB3UVo36zI2tVzHqDBZyJs4/view?usp=sharing
Maybe someone on the SHCHD Board can explain why the Hospital Foundation year end revenue totals in their 990 tax returns doesn’t balance to the Hospital Foundation 4th Quarter Financial Statement revenue totals, i.e. both ending Dec 31, 2021:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kOsR4azJzQuIEGFkkYM9hisT9DEWlXWv/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R71CNF7ws4Ty8KSqu4MnYDAJIoRURZ5C/view?usp=sharing
I know absolutely nothing about the hospital being replaced, or this new one. However, I was surprised in general, bc of the number of people leaving soho, businesses closing, water board and it’s difficulties, and of course PGE. The fact that there’s no helipad, where there are barely residents anymore, is curious. Someone enlighten me? Thanks!
Its complicated, full of development plans that all need the basic services like new water and sewer connections, of which the Garberville Sanitary District water rights cannot support without effecting the health of the South Fork Eel River. The SHCHD development plans would need over 7 million gallons of water per year, of which GSD does not have to supply with its current water rights. In other words it would tap them out and tap out the river as well. Including everyone down stream and the threatened salmon species. The SHCHD needs additional water for the new hospital and medical building, short term and long term workforce housing and converting the old hospital into a larger SNF. Not having PG&E is the least of their development problems.
What I don’t understand; SHCHD claims they cannot meet the new statewide seismic requirements for the Jerold Phelps Community Hospital. Then why are they pouring $5.6 Million into the same building for Skilled Nursing? It makes no sense!
https://sohumhealth.org/app/uploads/2022/06/Campaign-update.pdf
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18E6qkaUJkDCorZwAV6LzOsXrQMTI-wru/view?usp=sharing
And on top of all of that, the SHCHD and Hospital Foundation does not want to disclose the financial side of donations and the lack thereof!
Hospitals and Skilled Nursing buildings have a different importance factor for seismic design. Also, major renovations of the building require compliance with current code, where as a new use of existing building not deemed emergency services would allow them to use the existing building without seismic retrofits.
This is the same reason College of the Redwoods could no longer use the old forum building for classes, but rented out to PGE for office space.
Please provide your source information. So what you are saying, Skilled Nursing buildings are less important from seismic damage than a hospital? Did the SHCHD ever do a cost analysis and feasibility study to retrofit the existing Jerold Phelps Community Hospital for seismic renovations? If they did they would have made it public, to justify a much larger new hospital and facility.
These aren’t “sources”, these are codes. Regular buildings, or non-essential facilities don’t need to withstand a 9.0, or even a 6.2 like December 2022. There will be damage even to well-built structures, check your USGS reporting on the recent quakes. High occupancy and essential facilities have multipliers to decrease the possibility of structural failure in a quake.
Like my name suggests, leave it to the design professionals. Or you can google ASCE Seismic Importance factors and find that Essential Facilities such as hospitals indeed have a 1.5 factor for design. I can explain this to you or you can go get an engineering degree yourself.
And my comment is there is no preliminary engineering report that addresses the Jerold Phelps Community Hospital for seismic retrofit and renovations. But yet the SHCHD claims they cannot comply with or unable to meet approaching statewide seismic requirements for the old hospital building and need a new one. In fact, they are using fearmongering to solicit donations, with no facts to backup their claim:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QWLi9-Fql6EwTEBoy4gDfwvCm6rkQyxJ/view?usp=sharing
The good thing about written text, it doesn’t go away. One can confirm your original statement was it makes no sense to do nursing in a building not seismically suitable for hospitals. I provided the reasoning to make it make sense for you.
You wanted sources and an explanation as to why skilled nursing buildings are less important in your second response. I provided a code reference for you (ASCE).
I’m having a hard time determining if you’re either a CAVE or NIMBY, or if there’s a reason you’re using this blog to slander the project. I’m not sure how anyone could be against a functioning hospital in their community. If you’re concerned about the cost, simply don’t donate your own money.
Thanks for the links, as always, Ed.
Poor planning, odd world events, the collapse of the “local industry”, the less than optimal leaders and all the rather special locals who have their body parts in the pie, along with dwindling population, business etc are reducing my confidence that this project will ever come to complation.
SHCHD talks a great game, but fails to deliver.
The site of the “new hospital” was poorly chosen, but at least it has a freeway exit, unlike Howard Hospital.
I have repeatedly suggested, over the last 10 years, many improvements, most of which came to exist, including outpatient rehab, behavioral health, women’s health, an outpatient commercial pharmacy, replacing the Med Rec system, and I personally spent a year there remodeling the laboratory, keeping the chemistry analyser operating with spit and wire and spare tubing, and, like you, still see many obstacles here…
At this point, many other facilities have “partnered” with larger entities in order to continue, and my feeling is that Adventist Health, with all its drawbacks, would be the group with sufficient resources and experience to get you your new hospital.
SHCHD spends a lot of time hiding in the bushes, but their incompetent approach and administration have had plenty of time since “Measure W” to bring this into being.
The site is too small, the town is in decay, the planning is lacking, and the goal, while imaginative, is a bit too far for folks so deeply entrenched in the past…
Ms Kemp, I am happy you perceive a smoothness, wish you and your mother well, and where I live now, the hospitals are less than optimal but they have some staying power…
There is a shortage of everything, in healthcare, from supplies to doctors, and the problems were caused by fraud, greed, and bad government.
In Garberville, SHCHD pays a poor leader a handsome salary to disseminate mistruths, but in the end, he will take his experience and move elsewhere.
Garberville is not where I would want to be if needing healthcare, but I travel for dental, doctor and for lab, XRAY and pharmacy, local providers appear to be sufficient.
I recommend Tribal Facilities over Corporate ones, and IMO the locals in GBV Redway should measure their options carefully before consuming existing healthcare.
Such an important project for our community! Thank you Sohum Health and everyone who donated!
Please forget adding one of those big ‘fancy’ (expensive) facades to the building, that every other hospital seems to have. Yuck. Make OUR hospital reflect the community. Simple and straightforward, focusing on care, not like ‘Ohh look! We are stylish, wealthy and modern!!!’
I’m serious.