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NEWPORT — Pend Oreille County voters are not just nominating candidates in the Tuesday, Aug. 4 primary election.
Also on the ballot will be a $51 million bond measure from Pend Oreille County Public Hospital District No. 1. If approved by voters, the bond will fund emergency room improvements, medical technology updates, a surgical capacity increase and the introduction of new services at Newport Hospital and Health Services. It needs at least a 60% supermajority to pass.
As outlined in Resolution No. 2026-02 passed by the NHHS Board of Commissioners, “the bond would authorize the expansion and renovation of Newport Community Hospital to address facility capacity, infrastructure, and access needs,” according to an FAQ on NHHS’s website.
The measure is estimated to cost $1.47 per $1,000 in assessed property value, collecting $51 million over a term of up to 30 years at an interest rate of 4.75– 5.5%. NHHS expects to fund an additional $4 million with cash, a lease and grants.
Of the project’s total $55 million cost, $42.4 million would be used for construction, contingencies and administrative costs, $4.95 million for equipment and furnishings, $3.3 million for services and $4.4 million for sales taxes. NHHS would stay open during construction, which would end after about three years.
Based on their payment of bond taxes, Public Hospital District No. 1 taxpayers could also apply for up to $750 a year in credits toward NHHS medical bills and Seeber’s Pharmacy prescription drugs.
The project has other benefits as well, according to NHHS.
NHHS is currently operating at or near capacity, revealing system-wide space and infrastructure constraints, according to NHHS’s website. Built in 1958 and 1993, NHHS was designed for inpatient care, but not outpatient flow, infusion services, modern technology or telehealth integration.
Public Hospital District No. 1 completed in 2025 a market assessment that included analysis of demographic trends, service utilization and patient origin data, as previously reported by The Miner. The assessment identified that some residents traveled as far away as Spokane or Coeur d’Alene to access certain healthcare services. Patients have waited up to six months to see a cardiologist in Spokane, and even lon- ger for procedures like orthopedic surgeries, taking time away from work and home life.
These findings are consistent with a community health needs assessment, which also identified gaps in access to specific services locally.
NHHS’s service area population is projected to grow by 2030 to 25,000, almost onethird of whom will be over 65 years old.
The project would allow NHHS to address this growth by streamlining patient flow, hiring upwards of 20 employees and, making medical care more locally accessible.
Services that have been evaluated for expansion include oncology, chemotherapy and other infusions, cardiology, pain management and microbiology, allowing for faster test results. As of now, pain management is not available at NHHS.
Additionally, there are plans to add three surgical operating rooms and move the MRI suite from a trailer to an in-house unit. In the emergency department, which handles 10,000 visits per year, capacity would increase to up to 12 beds and accommodate behavioral health rooms. Capacity would also increase in the laboratory and rehabilitation therapy spaces, addressing long waits for test results and standard physical therapy treatment at NHHS.
Besides those, the project would replace the 1950s-era building with a new three-story addition and relocate the main entrance to improve patient access and internal flow between services. The new main entrance to the hospital would directly face Newport Health Center.
Without voter approval of measures like the bond, public hospital districts have limited capacity for debt. According to NHHS’s website, “existing funding sources would only support a portion of the proposed project” and “completing only partial improvements could create additional pressure on departments that are already operating at capacity.”
