OROVILLE — Oroville Hospital has certainly had a busy year, with not all of its activities flattering to the organization.
In some good news, construction workers completed work on the hospital’s large expansion plan, constructing a five-story tower on its property near Olive Highway in southeast Oroville. However, a contracting firm overseeing the massive project had worried in November 2022 that there wasn’t enough money in the construction fund to pay the company for its work on the 160,000-square-foot facility.
Construction work indeed finished in October of this year, leaving just inspections and testing of systems remaining. Oroville Hospital chief operating officer Scott Chapple said the inspections by public agencies range from electrical, mechanical and plumbing all the way to climate control, information technology, security and backup power systems.
Chapple estimated the tower — which will increase the number of patient beds from 153 to 211 — will be ready for occupancy around June or July 2024. The building is slated to include ambulatory care services, an intensive care unit, a labor and delivery center and two floors for medical/surgical units when it opens.
However, there was considerable doubt the project would reach completion. General contractors for the expansion expressed concern about the hospital’s ability to pay for the project — and frustration at the hospital’s lack of transparency in responding to their requests for proof of financial capability. The hospital received $200 million in bonds in February 2019 to fund the project, which the hospital said would cost $178 million. The project was originally slated to be completed in April 2022.
Another event that was unpleasant to Oroville-area residents was the hospital’s closure of an outpatient services department.
Golden Valley Home Health employees said they were verbally notified of the business’ closing in a Jan. 27 meeting. Employees said they were told the reason for the closure was because “home health was not profitable.” A Jan. 30 email listed three physical therapists, three occupational therapists and two speech, language and pathology therapists who were being transferred to the “hospital and/or outpatient clinics.”
Employees expressed concern for their patients, especially those who live in outlying areas citing Berry Creek as one of the communities “not served by other home health agencies.”
The biggest change for Chico’s hospital was its name change, rebranding from Enloe Medical Center to Enloe Health.
