State Rejects Proposal For Psychiatric Hospital In Wilsonville

There will not be a 100-bed psychiatric hospital in Wilsonville. That's the decision announced Friday by the Oregon Health Authority, which rejected a proposal from Universal Health Services, a Pennsylvania company.

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The authority found that the company did not prove the need for the facility.

OHA officials said that it based its decision on eight criteria used to measure the application:

1. Does the service area population need the proposed project?
2. Will the proposed project result in an improvement in patients’ reasonable access to services?
3. Does the proposed project represent the most effective and least costly alternative, considering all appropriate and adequate ways of meeting the identified needs?
4. Will sufficient qualified personnel, adequate land, and adequate financing be available to develop and support the proposed project?
5. Will the proposed project have an appropriate relationship to its service area, including limiting any unnecessary duplication of services and any negative financial impact on other providers?
6. Does the proposed project conform to relevant state physical plant standards, and will it represent any improvement in regard to conformity to such standards, compared to other similar services in the area?
7. Is the financial status of the applicant adequate to support the proposed project, and will it continue to be adequate following implementation of the project?
8. Will the impact of the proposal on the cost of health care be acceptable?

OHA says that they were only able to answer yes to one of the eight: Is the financial status of the applicant adequate to support the proposed project, and will it continue to be adequate following implementation of the project?

While OHA rarely reject proposals to the built a new hospital - this is only the second time in roughly 30 years - the proposal was the target of strong opposition from other health care providers with whom it would have competed.

The decision, which the company can appeal, is also a blow to Wilsonville, whose officials had supported the proposal, which would have brought 250 jobs with it.

Photo Colin Miner