As the second phase of construction on Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital (SPCH) picks up steam over the next month, hospital entrances will be shifting to accommodate construction.
Approximately from Feb. 25 to March 18, patients and visitors to SPCH should use what has been the hospital main entrance for many years, the north entrance off Abbey Street. After March 18, patients and visitors should use the west entrance off Ninth Street. Look for signage to indicate the hospital and clinic entrance.
Patients with mobility challenges can be dropped off at the new Emergency entrance off Bay Street, using the black asphalt driveway. This entrance will always be open during construction. Additionally, the hospital has leased free shuttle service from Yaquina Bay Cab Company to ferry patients between the parking lot of the Center for Health Education on Ninth Street, the main entrance on Abbey Street and the new Emergency entrance on Bay Street.
The yellow shuttle van operates on a continual loop, Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients should only have to wait at one of the three locations for a few minutes before the van circles around. Once inside the hospital building, volunteers and staff are available to help patients find their way to appointments. The distance between the old hospital building and the new one is significant for those with any mobility challenge. Wheelchairs are stationed at both entrances for patient use.
The second phase of construction, which begins on Monday, Feb. 25, will include interior demolition of the two-story brick structure that was built in 1988, as well as demolition of buildings at the south end of the hospital to make room for a new parking lot.
Learn more about the full project at samhealth.org/NewHospitalNewport.
