Columbia Memorial Hospital (Oregon)

Columbia Memorial Hospital
File:Former Columbia Hospital on 16th St - Astoria, Oregon (2012) 4.jpg Original Columbia Hospital before 1977
Geography
Location	2111 Exchange Street, Astoria, Oregon, United States
Coordinates
Organization
Care system	Medicare/Medicaid
Hospital type	Acute Care
Services
Emergency department	Level IV trauma center
Beds	25
History
Founded	1927
Links
Website	Official website
Lists	Hospitals in Oregon

Columbia Memorial Hospital (CMH) is a 25-bed medical facility in Astoria, Oregon. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Oregon Synod. Opened in 1927 at a different location, the hospital moved to its current location in 1977. A critical-access hospital, its services include a level IV trauma center.

History

The start of the hospital came in 1919 when the Finnish community started to raise money for a second hospital in Astoria, to be called Columbia Hospital. The Finnish community was unable to raise enough funds, so the Lutheran Church's Augustana synod took over the fundraising. The hospital opened in 1927, located on 16th Street at Franklin Avenue. In 1958, operation of the hospital was taken over by a new corporation named Columbia Lutheran Charities, replacing the Augustana Lutheran Church. By at least 1970, the facility had been renamed Columbia Memorial Hospital.

In 1970, Columbia Lutheran Charities, by this time the hospital's owner, bought St. Mary's Hospital, which had been the first such facility in the city when it opened in 1880. At the time of this acquisition, that older hospital was located at 16th and Duane streets in a building constructed in 1931 adjacent to a 1905 building that replaced the original structure. The wood-frame 1905 building had already been out of use for several years.

In 1975, the hospital started a fundraising drive to provide funds for a new facility to replace the nearly 50-year-old existing buildings. Plans for the new, 65-bed, $4.7 million facility were approved by the Oregon Health Commission in December 1975. In December 1977, the new hospital opened, replacing both the original Columbia Hospital and the former St. Mary's Hospital building. The old building at 16th and Franklin was turned into a nursing home and still stands today. The St. Mary's Hospital buildings, dating from 1905 and 1931, were demolished in 1975, as the plans for a new facility were advancing.

CMH underwent a $2 million renovation and expansion in the late 1990s. In October 2002, nurses at the hospital authorized a strike, but reached an agreement later that month to avoid a strike. The hospital announced a new cancer clinic to be operated jointly with Oregon Health & Science University in May 2015.

Details

CMH is a critical-access hospital that is licensed for 49 beds, but as of 2014 only had 25 beds available. Services at the facility include a level IV trauma center. Other services include hospice care, cardiac services, imaging, a laboratory, maternity, pharmacy, surgical, home healthcare, and urgent care, among other services. The four-storey hospital sits on a campus just off U.S. Route 30 at 21st Street and includes a helipad.

For 2013, the hospital had a total of 1,521 discharges, with 4,157 patient days, and 13,149 emergency room visits. Also that year were 325 births and 381 inpatient surgeries. For 2013, the hospital had $70 million for net patient revenue, earned $4.9 million in net income, and provided $3.1 million in charity care.

See also

• List of hospitals in Oregon