WEATHER
After nearly a year of construction, Gig Harbor’s first hospital, St. Anthony, is becoming a monumental presence in Gig Harbor North. The skeletal structure of steel girders and concrete block walls are taking shape as the state-of-the-art patient 80-bed facility is gradually bleeding off the architect’s drafting table and materializing into reality.
Giant cranes are profiled against the sky as workers bustle about like orange-vested ants. The sound of power tools echo through the cavernous, unfinished corridors, and welding sparks fly through the air like hyperactive fireflies.
About an inch of water covers most of the floors, as construction workers carry on in the Washington drizzle.
“We only stopped construction one day, and that was when we had a big windstorm and couldn’t operate the crane,” said Rex Richards, field manager for Sellen Construction, the main contractor on the project. “We’re so fortunate to have the team we have. I was working on a job in Reno, and the guys walked off the job when it was barely raining. Our crew works, no matter what. That says a lot about these guys.”
Gale Robinette, public relations manager for the Franciscan Health System, was decked out in a hardhat and construction vest last week, standing amid ladders, electrical wires and power tools with a handful of renderings, trying to conceptualize the completed building despite the chaos.
“This will be the lobby,” he said, making a sweeping motion with his hand. “It will look like an upscale hotel with a lot of stone on the walls, a fireplace and good use of color. This will create an atmosphere that will help reduce feelings of anxiety.”
Robinette said modern hospitals have moved away from the stark white blandness of previous buildings and are focusing more on aesthetics.
“There won’t be anything sterile-looking about this place,” he said. “We will have lots of natural light and colors you would find in nature.”
Both the two-story open atrium and upper-floor patient rooms will take full advantage of the building’s western exposure. Floor-to-ceiling windows will ensure rooms will be bathed in afternoon sunshine on clear days.
An aspect of the hospital’s overall theme is the “healing garden,” an outdoor landscaped garden where patients and visitors will be able to escape for some fresh air and relaxation.
The garden will also feature a patio and reflecting pool.
“When people come to a hospital, they’re usually under a certain amount of stress,” Robinette said. “They’re either sick or hurt, or coming to visit someone who is sick or hurt. We strive to create an environment for healing the mind, body and spirit.”
One of the truly unique aspects of St. Anthony Hospital is the crescent-shaped greenbelt that hugs the hospital’s boundaries and cloaks the atmosphere with a noise- and pollution-reducing buffer.
Visitors gazing out the windows will see Washington’s soothing evergreens instead of a stressful, bustling city.
“This will be very quiet when the construction stops,” Robinette said. “You’ll be able to hear the birds chirping.”
The hospital is being built by the Franciscan Health System and Catholic Health Initiatives. A glassed-in sky roof will attach the adjacent medical office building to the main hospital.
The hospital is designed to accommodate additional beds on the upper floors in anticipation of future population growth, so it can expand up instead of out.
Robinette said the hospital’s location is ideal for many reasons. One is the central location — there is easy access off state Route 16 to Gig Harbor, the Key Peninsula, Purdy and south Kitsap County.
The St. Anthony project is currently approaching its goal to raise $10 million for special technologies and enhancements. The hospital just wrapped up its eight-month-long “quiet” phase of the campaign, which resulted in $7 million in donations from Gig Harbor and Peninsula-area donors.
Now the Campaign for St. Anthony Hospital is turning to the public to raise the additional $3 million.
Robinette said that creates a ground-floor opportunity for local donors to have sections of the hospital named after them.
Gig Harbor residents Rick Larson and Sharon Snuffin are co-chairing the campaign.
Snuffin said that, as a member of the Franciscan board, when she heard about the opportunity to co-chair the campaign, she wanted to become more involved.
“I am passionate about the benefits of this hospital to our community,” she said.
“I value the compassionate care that is the cornerstone to their (the Franciscan) philosophy.”
The campaign has been pleased with the sponsorship they have received so far from private and corporate donors, Snuffin said.
“Now is the chance for everyone to get involved,” she said. “This hospital is for everyone and our grandchildren. It’s going to be a beautiful addition to the community.”
Campaign for St. Anthony Hospital
For more information, call 253-857-1436 or e-mail bobkrotz@FHShealth.org.
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