Second round of FEMA funding released for Newport hospital water resiliency project
NEWPORT, Ore. (April 2, 2026) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released $3.9 million in grant funding to pay for construction of a large water tank at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital, part of a water resiliency project spearheaded by the Pacific Communities Health District.
“We received the initial FEMA award of almost $950,000 in the fall of 2024,” said Chris Carlson, health district board chairperson. “These funds helped with planning, engineering and other pre-construction activity. For the past several months, we’ve been waiting to find out whether the remaining funds would be released to us. We are very grateful that it has finally happened so we can move forward with this important project.”
A construction bid package is now being developed and will be released in the coming months. Once construction begins, it should take 12 to 18 months to complete.
About the project
The water resiliency project includes construction of a 373,000-gallon, earthquake-resistant water tank to provide potable water to the hospital for at least four weeks in case the city’s water supply fails. The tank will be located on the east side of the hospital. Pipelines will connect it to new and existing city pipelines. When the stored water is not needed for emergency purposes at the hospital, it will be part of Newport’s municipal water supply, benefiting all citizens.
Jon Conner is director of Plant Engineering for Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital and is acting as the onsite water resiliency project manager. He explained that once the tank is built, it will be given to the city of Newport to maintain and use, through an intergovernmental agreement between the health district and the city.
“Potable water will flow in and out of the tank through city waterlines. When heavy seismic activity is detected, a seismic valve on the tank outlet will automatically close, holding water in the tank for dedicated use by the hospital,” Conner said. “The water will be perfectly fine to use for all hospital and medical purposes. With careful conservation, it should provide adequate supply for at least four weeks.”
Many emergency water supply options were evaluated, such as transportation of water to the hospital or desalination of bay water. The onsite water storage tank option was determined to be the most feasible in the event of a catastrophic earthquake and most cost effective over its lifecycle.
Once the decision was made to proceed with a water storage tank, several locations were considered, with pros and cons to each, before deciding on using the southeast corner of the hospital’s back parking lot.
The Pacific Communities Health District has been working with Samaritan Health Services, which operates the hospital; the city of Newport; Dig Deep Research, an expert water grants company based in Aurora, Colorado; and WSC, a water engineering and strategic communications firm with offices in California and Portland, Oregon.