DELIVERING NEWS TO MID-COLUMBIA SENIORS SINCE 1982
FEBRUARY 2022
Vol. 10 | Issue 2
Hospital equipment library plans move to Richland By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
A Pasco nonprofit that lends medical gear, including wheelchairs, hospital beds, crutches and more, is preparing to turn a vacant site by a busy Richland intersection into its new hub. Knights Community Hospital Equipment Lend Program, or KC Help, intends to develop its new headquarters and a commercial self-storage facility on five acres at the corner of Van Giesen Street and the bypass highway. The $2.8 million vision includes a storage business to provide income to support KC Help’s mission to provide hospital equipment to patients who would otherwise go without. The property is owned by Knights of Columbus, which created KC Help in 1998 to fill gaps in coverage from insurance, Medicare and Medicaid. Tri-Citians who need crutches, canes, wheelchairs, bathtub stools, toilet risers, walkers and other aids but aren’t eligible to have them covered have relied on it for years. In the years leading up to the pandemic, it served about 2,500 patients
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Van Giesen Street
Courtesy KC Help KC Help, a hospital lending nonprofit, is preparing to build a new headquarters at the Knights of Columbus property in Richland, near Van Giesen Street and the bypass highway.
annually. Demand dipped in 2020 to about 2,200 but has been rising since then. Wheelchairs – both standard and electric – are its most popular offering, with 300 supplied in 2020. Bathtub stools, canes and crutches are also popular items, but its inventory also includes lift chairs, bed rails, transfer
poles and more. Customers are concentrated in the Tri-Cities, but come from as far away as Idaho, eastern Oregon, western Washington and in one case, Alaska. Jerry Rhoads, a retired electrical engineer who founded KC Help, said the 5,300-square-foot facility near Pasco City Hall that it calls homes isn’t large
enough to keep up with demand that isn’t just growing but is shifting, courtesy the Covid-19 pandemic. It will keep the Pasco center as a distribution facility and light repair shop. A Premera grant helped add internal space. Rhoads once thought – and hoped – the American Care Act would put the lending program out of business by expanding access to health care services. It’s been the opposite, he said. Medicare and Medicaid tightened the criteria to qualify for items such as wheelchairs. Private insurers followed their lead. KC Help always aimed to fill a gap. Instead of narrowing, the gap widened The Covid-19 pandemic is altering demand as well. Patients who might have been hospitalized are being treated at home. That’s led to a rise in requests for hospital beds – nearly 150 in 2021. The problem is compounded by the waves of Covid infections that sweep in. “Every time a new variant comes through, our inventory of beds goes uKC HELP Page 6
Architects put the spotlight on their best work By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
Sharp-eyed travelers with time to kill at the Tri-Cities Airport have always been bombarded with information about local sites. For 2021 and now early 2022, they’ve had a chance to review something a bit more substantial – the best examples of local architecture from Walla Walla to the Columbia River Gorge, as curated by members of AIA Central Washington.
“The variety of projects showcased really speak to the impact of the work the architectural community provides,” said Brandon Wilm, of Design West Architects and president of the chapter. “We help envision, conceptualize and construct the communities that we all live in. Architecture seems to have been trivialized with the advent of many 3D software and visualization tools. However, as you can see from the exhibit, these buildings elicit emotions, memories and help create a sense of community when done right.”
Jim Dillman, a retired Richland architect emeritus, led the project. It was a welcome opportunity to highlight great architecture and architects, who often go unnoticed in the lengthy construction process. The display wrapped its yearlong run in January, but Dillman plans to take it on the road. The display has a compelling story to tell and once it escapes the secured confines of the airport terminal, he wants to exhibit it at regional libraries. During a visit to the airport to take
photos, he took measurements, and, ever the architect, sketched out drawings for the frames in a notepad and worried about finding hinges that would support the weight. Dillman, who grew up in Whitstran near Prosser, and the jury that selected which buildings to feature, included a mix of familiar landmarks and lessknown buildings. The familiar includes Franklin County’s striking courthouse and
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
MONTHLY QUIZ
What year did Pasco win the Washington state basketball Prosser Memorial to break ground on $78 million hospital complex
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Eye, ear specialists team up to offer seniors one-stop care
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tournament? ANSWER, PAGE 9
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