Providence has announced investments totaling $177 million to bolster emergency and critical cardiac care at Providence Portland and Providence St. Vincent Medical Centers, including Providence Heart Institute.
The improvements are expected to provide room for an additional 50,000 emergency department visits each year – the equivalent of an entirely new emergency department for Portland – and support Providence Heart Institute as it cares for a growing number of patients with much more complex cardiac conditions than patients in the past.
With healthcare facilities nationwide struggling with overcrowding and dated infrastructure, Portland's providers face similarly pressing circumstances, the health system said. Annually, patients make more than 200,000 emergency room visits to Providence's Portland area hospitals, including an increasing number of individuals with mental health needs.
The capital campaign will create more capacity cross Portland through investments of $92 million in expanded and re-imagined emergency departments at Providence St. Vincent and Providence Portland and $85 million to expand critical cardiac care facilities, including a new cardiac intensive care unit, at Providence St. Vincent.
"Our emergency departments in Portland are staring down challenges that grow more significant by the day," said Ray Moreno, M.D., Providence St. Vincent chief medical officer, in a statement. "Far too often we are caring for people in hallways and turning away ambulances due to overcrowding. Our patients, our caregivers, and our communities deserve better.”
Similar pressures are mounting for Providence Heart Institute, whose facilities were not built to handle patients who may spend weeks or even months in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). "Providence has proudly grown into one of the largest providers of complex cardiac care on the West Coast and a national center of excellence, but the patients we're seeing today have much more complex cardiac care needs," said Dan Oseran, M.D., Providence Heart Institute executive medical director, in a statement. "This is our opportunity to re-imagine cardiac care for the next 50 years and ensure that Portland remains a world-class destination for heart care.”
Providence says the transformative changes for Providence patients will include:
• Reduced or eliminated wait times in the emergency department.
• Critical innovations and new facilities so Providence Heart Institute can provide the very best in complex cardiac care to more people as a national center of excellence.
• Improved safety, security, and comfort for patients and caregivers.
• More lives saved and better outcomes in areas of urgent need, including behavioral health, pediatrics, and stroke care.
• New flexible sites of care to accommodate more patients in moments of crisis such as a pandemic or natural disaster, and dedicated treatment rooms for people experiencing substance use crises and related behavioral health issues.
The expansion and renovation projects began in 2023 and are expected to be completed by 2027. Projects are being strategically staggered in phases to maintain care capacity during construction.
More than 80% of the total funding – $144 million – for the investment will come from donors, making it the largest campaign in Providence Oregon's history.
