Edition 29

Security Incident:

On Sunday morning, we had a laser being focused on employees while they were outside the hospital entrance. The laser appeared to be coming from one of the houses on the hill to the east. We are working with law enforcement as they investigate the incident. I’m hopeful that this won’t happen again, but if you notice anything, please report it.

Cold Acute Care:

Despite a mild winter so far, we are still experiencing intermittent temperature issues with the AC. We are working with an engineering firm that has identified some previously undiagnosed issues and is working to rectify the situation. The building is staying much warmer than last winter, but we are still not hitting the designed ranges in all areas.

What we are Working On:

A rapid-fire update on a few items:

• The Rural Collaborative

  • After joining on January 1st, we have had a flurry of activity as we have gotten connected to the various department committees and aligned into the organization. We have also begun evaluating cost savings and are already benefiting from a group contract for sending lab orders. Next up, we are looking at our group purchasing organization that covers most of our supply and medication purchases.

• Clean Building Act

  • Washington State established energy targets for commercial buildings and set a compliance timeline, requiring either meeting the targets or investing in improvements to baseline energy use. At just over 100,000 square feet, our campus needs to meet the target by June 1, 2027. Thanks in part to our major HVAC project, our numbers look strong, and we hope to have our compliance confirmed early.

• Hazard Vulnerability Assessments

  • Every year, we conduct a process to assess the likelihood and severity of potential disasters. We use the rankings to align our policies and training for the year. For example, instead of preparing for a tidal wave, we focus on wildfires. The Safety Committee will get more details this month.

• Verbeck Building Soffit Repair

  • Supplies are still on order; hopefully, we can get this cleaned up soon

• Interlocal with Mid Valley Hospital

  • We are working to finalize an Interlocal with MVH to allow employees of one organization to provide training and consulting to support the other. Interlocals are a contract type that Special Districts like NVH and MVH can use to procure and pay for services.

• Daisy Awards

  • I’m looking forward to the announcement of the 2025 Daisy Award nominees and the winner. The announcement is coming later this week.

Happy 2026, and let me know if you have any questions or want to chat.

A little snow would be nice.