Pacific Communities Health District Breaks Ground on Medical Resident Apartments
Site work began in late February on a six-unit apartment building that will provide housing for medical residents working at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital.
A project of the Pacific Communities Health District, the $3.2 million building is slated for completion this fall. The Pacific Communities Health District Foundation is engaging community members for philanthropic support of the project.
“Finding affordable housing at the coast is a well-known obstacle. These apartments will offer an option for our hospital’s medical residents who spend two years here as part of their training,” said Chris Carlson, Pacific Communities Health District board chairperson. “The availability of a beautiful, brand new apartment rental right next to the hospital will undoubtedly be enticing to them.”
About the Building
The apartment building site is north of the hospital’s main parking lot, at 933 SW Abbey St. Now vacant, it previously held a single-family home which was demolished a couple of years ago. Once complete, the 5,400-square-foot, three-story apartment building will offer one-bedroom apartments that average around 900 square feet. Each has its own covered outdoor space, and a dedicated parking lot will be located to the north.
“We are pleased to once again work with Capri Architecture, whose designs have a distinct Pacific Northwest aesthetic,” Carlson said. “An example of their work can be found in the Center for Health Education which opened 10 years ago just west of the hospital.”
Kauffman Commercial, based in Salem, was awarded the construction bid. As part of the project, Southwest 10th Street will be paved to the end of the block, in an intergovernmental agreement between the health district and the city of Newport.
Rural Residency Program
Medical residents accepted to Samaritan Health Services’ Family Medicine Rural Residency Program spend three years diving deep into the multifaceted demands of rural health care. The first year they see patients at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis or other larger volume urban hospitals. The last two years they are based at Newport and may also travel to Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City to see patients and train.
According to Lesley Ogden, MD, Samaritan Coast Region CEO, the rural residency program’s goal is to create well-educated physicians who specialize in family medicine with a focus on caring for an underserved, rural population. A secondary goal is to show the new doctors the opportunities available to them on the central Oregon coast, perhaps inspiring them to remain.
“These physicians spend two years treating patients here. After they become involved in the community and explore everything wonderful about the Oregon coast, we hope they will want to build their practices locally and make this their home,” said Dr. Ogden.
Efforts Support Recruiting
Cassie Whittier, MD, is the director of the Family Medicine Rural Residency program.
“The continued support of the residency program by the hospital and foundation, shown through projects like this one for housing, demonstrates a strong commitment to the program’s long-term success,” Dr. Whittier said.
“We regularly discuss the housing option and the broader community support with applicants to the program, and they have become very attractive recruitment tools,” she added. “We want our medical residents to feel connected and truly part of this community while they are here, and initiatives like this help make that transition easier.”
Learn More
For project updates, visit pchdistrict.org . To donate toward this important community project, visit https://www.samhealth.org/PCHDF , choose “other” from the program list, and comment “Housing,” or contact the Pacific Communities Health District Foundation at 541-574-4745.