Furthering its mission of improving community health and well-being, Barton Health is moving forward with its Barton Health Regional Expansion, which will broaden regional medical services.
A clear direction has emerged for the expansion, one that will support Barton best meeting the health needs of our community, allow construction to move efficiently, and ensure the health system’s long-term viability—Barton Health will develop plans for a new, Nevada-based hospital and a robust outpatient presence on both the California and Nevada campuses.
Barton Health: Rooted In Community Service
- Community Health Leader - Established in 1963 by forward-thinking residents concerned about the feasibility of traveling over mountain passes to receive emergent and routine medical care.
- Steadfast Mission - Throughout the decades, our mission has remained to delivers safe, high quality care and engages the community in the improvement of health and wellness.
- Local Commitment - Responsibility to remain viable and capable of providing health care for the next 60 years.
California 2030 Seismic Regulations
After extended assessment, it became clear that California’s 2030 seismic standard—a mandate requiring California hospitals to meet new structural criteria—will require Barton Health to build a new hospital as the current, aging infrastructure will not meet the requirements.
Rebuilding and retrofitting the current hospital facility would require a complex and financially-prohibitive staging and moving of patient care services while the project is constructed in multiple, years-long phases. With a physical proximity to Nevada, fiscal responsibility demanded assessment of both California and Nevada locations to understand cost, timelines, patient care disruption, and growth opportunities in each location to best meet the needs of the future.
Healthcare is Complex & Changing
A purposeful shift has transpired within the healthcare industry—a focus on proactive health management through annual wellness visits, preventative screenings, key relationships with primary care offices, chronic care navigators, and population health teams has resulted in a decrease of inpatient volume and an increase in outpatient services. Meaning, fewer people receive care in hospitals and most care today is delivered in a doctor’s office, at a surgery center, or in a walk-in or urgent care clinic.
Rural hospitals across the country are moving away from providing a high number of under-utilized inpatient beds to focus on increased ambulatory services, including primary care, specialty care, home health and hospice care. A new hospital will adjust to the future needs of healthcare.
Input & Opportunities
Throughout the project, Barton has been guided by input from community surveys, stakeholders, partner agencies, and physician and staff teams, along with data from the triennial Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), market trends, current health data, state regulations, and CA 2030 seismic requirements for healthcare facilities.
After nearly a year of analysis, consideration and input, Barton’s board of directors voted to develop in-depth plans to build a new hospital in Nevada, which, when completed, will replace the current acute care facility in South Lake Tahoe. In addition to a Nevada-based hospital, Barton will continue to offer a robust outpatient presence on both the South Lake Tahoe and Stateline campuses.
What's Ahead
With this directional approval, the due diligence stage of project planning can commence including scope, costs, permitting, timing, and any additional work with regulatory agencies. After which, the Board will again review the plan and vote on final approval, likely by Q4 2023.
“We are excited to receive this direction from the Board of Directors, securing Barton’s future as Lake Tahoe’s community health partner. The future of healthcare is complex and changing, and we have a responsibility to remain viable and capable of providing care to this community for another 60 years, which is why we are developing plans for the Barton Regional Expansion.”
- Dr. Clint Purvance, President and CEO of Barton Health
In The News
Media inquires: please contact Thea Hardy, Public Relations Specialist (530.543.5617 | thardy@bartonhealth.org).