Target not coming to valley soon

Target fans in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley need to be patient if they want to shop at the store without leaving Asotin and Nez Perce counties.

The not-for-profit economic development group Valley Vision is looking for ideas from its members about how to attract retailers after the loss of chains such as Macy’s, Shopko and Kmart, said Scott Corbitt, the organization’s president, at the group’s annual meeting Tuesday.

But Target’s decision to open a new store in Moscow, which involved two years of work, means that the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley’s campaign for that store is on hold, Corbitt said.

Valley Vision started a campaign to recruit Target in August, the month before Target announced it will locate at the Palouse Mall in Moscow.

“We are probably not going to approach Target at least for a couple of years as they get their foot in the door in the region here,” Corbitt said. “But it doesn’t mean we’re not going to approach other, different retailers who might have a good fit in our valley.”

Corbitt’s update followed a presentation by St. Joseph Regional Medical Center CEO Tim Trottier, who took the position at the hospital in January, just months before the coronavirus pandemic struck the region.

The hospital set up a command center in mid-March to coordinate its response, something normally reserved for natural disasters like tornadoes or hurricanes. Its staff continues to meet each morning to assess strategy and look at the prevalence of the disease.

“We’ve seen zero patient deaths from managing (COVID-19) patients at our hospital and we’ve seen zero employees who’ve contracted (coronavirus) from our patients,” he said.

While the hospital has navigated the pandemic, it has identified priorities to make health care in the region even better, Trottier said.

Physician recruitment is one of the key goals across a variety of specialties, but especially in oncology, where the hospital has signed a medical oncologist who will start in July, he said.

Some cancer patients are having to go elsewhere for care because St. Joe’s doesn’t have enough depth in its providers right now.

“That’s our number one priority, to bring those providers in and keep people from having to leave the valley to get the excellent care that we offer,” Trottier said.

In cardiology, St. Joe’s wants a permanent group of cardiologists “exclusive to the community,” he said. “We don’t have that today. It’s something that I think is very achievable and expect to have happen here soon.”

Progress has been made with orthopedics. Dr. Caleb Netting, a general orthopedic surgeon with specialized skills for the hands and shoulders, is joining Lewiston Orthopedics, Trottier said.

At the same time, St. Joe’s is considering expanding the number of its in-patient behavioral health beds.

Currently the hospital has 20 beds for adults. An analysis found a need for 59 beds for geriatric patients who are 55 and older, prompting the hospital to look at 20 beds for geritric patients.

“Clearly the demand in our community will support it,” Trottier said. “That’s an opportunity for us that we’d like to pursue fuller.”

Investing millions of dollars into St. Joe’s is part of the plan of the hospital’s owner, LifePoint, which has a network of 89 hospitals in 26 states that gives the hospital access to a number of resources.

“We have subject matter experts in our home office that are ... a phone call away to really help make the best decisions about how to drive high quality and safe care for our community,” he said.

Since the hospital became private in 2017, charity care has increased, Trottier said.

“We have committed levels of sustained charity care, which, when we compared that recently to what charity care levels were prior to acquisition from Ascension (Health, a nonprofit Catholic organization), we are far and away above those thresholds,” he said.

The transition to private ownership hasn’t created a situation where an out-of-state corporation is involved in the day-to-day details of St. Joe’s operations, Trottier said.

LifePoint relies on his expertise, as well as St. Joe’s community board, in shaping the hospital’s direction, Trottier said.

“My boss is a divisional president who has responsibility for 18 hospitals,” he said. “If I can get her on the phone, one hour a month one on one, I am doing really, really well. Clearly ... that’s not enough time to run a hospital or be micromanaging a community hospital.”

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.