16 hours Ago By Kyra Gottesman
OROVILLE — The long-awaited opening of Oroville Hospital’s new five-story expansion tower, scheduled for March, has again been delayed and no new opening date has been announced.In January, Emily Stevens, Oroville Hospital director of public relations stated, “The estimated open date of the expansion is targeted for March of 2025.”On March 3, when asked for the date of the tower’s opening, Stevens stated in an email that “the expansion construction is complete.
In the coming weeks, an official press release from the hospital will be published that will include a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house date.”When no release was forthcoming in March, this newspaper reached out to Stevens on April 2. She reiterated her March 3 statement saying, “The construction is done.
We are waiting for approvals. The grand opening and ribbon cutting will be coming in a press release in the near future.”Pressed for more information specifically about what approvals the hospital was waiting for, Stevens replied in an April 3 email, “The expansion construction has been completed.
I have no new updates that I can provide at this time. Should any new developments arise, I will communicate those to you as I am able.”Oroville Hospital Chief Operating Officer Scott Chapple demonstrates patient lifts in the new facility Oct.
12, 2023 in Oroville, California. (Kyra Gottesman/Mercury-Register)The new 165,000-square-foot building was slated to be complete in April 2022. That date was pushed out to the fall of 2022 and pushed out again to November 2023.
In October 2023, a month shy of the projected opening, Chief Operating Officer Scott Chapple explained that the hospital was waiting for approval from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information so the tower’s primary and emergency power could be energized. That would be followed by extensive walk-throughs of the facility by the general contractor, project management team, engineers, architects, hospital staff and others who would make lists of details that need to be addressed.“We think it will be ready for occupancy by the end of second quarter, early third quarter next year,” Chapple said at that time.
That projected 2024 opening was not realized.Related ArticlesTrump whacks tiny agency that works to make the nation’s health care saferTribes, long shut out from their own health data, fight for access and sovereigntyMedicaid cuts could hurt older adults who rely on home care, nursing homesShingles is awful, but there may be another reason to get vaccinated. It may fight dementiaDoes Wordle help? Experts reveal ways keep your brain sharpAfter numerous queries from this newspaper regarding the missed 2024 opening, Stevens texted on Jan.
20, 2025, “We want to thank the community for their patience as we work to open our new tower for Oroville Hospital. We understand that the delay of the anticipated completion and occupancy timeline of our new tower has caused some questions and concerns. In order to open the facility, there are a number of processes in place to ensure it is approved for safe use.
”When asked in a follow-up call from this newspaper for more specific information on what processes needed to be in place to “ensure” the new facility would be “approved for safe use,” Stevens said she could not go into detail, stating only that “construction is done” but the hospital wanted to make sure the facility was “approved by our community partners before the opening.”.
