Patriot Bremerton
FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013 | Vol. 16, No. 22 www.bremertonpatriot.com | 50¢
Relay for Life walks on despite weekend heat By Leslie Kelly lkelly@soundpublishing.com.
Christie Burrer walked for her Aunt Nancy. Lou and Olivia Short walked for their grandmother, Louisa Crouse and their mother, Robin Short. And Genean Page, an oncology nurse, walked for all her patients. Despite their motivations and reasons, more than 700 people came out Saturday and Sunday to walk in the Central Kitsap-Bremerton Relay for Life. The relay, which went from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday had 719 registered walkers and more than 1,000 attending, said Vickilynn Hosmer, events chairperson. “We’re having a great relay,” said Hosmer at midday Saturday. “It’s hot, but people don’t really care. They’re walking and they’re having fun.” Hosmer said because of the heat, walkers were being reminded to drink plenty of f luids, take shade breaks and wear their sunscreen. In fact, many groups, including Harrison Medical Center, were on hand with free SP 80 sunscreen for anyone who was out at the relay. A group of nurses from Harrison Bremerton Hematolog y a nd Oncology department were walking and monitoring their booth alongside the track at Olympic High school where the relay was held. “We’re here walking for our patients,” said Page. “We’re taking a moment to walk in their shoes.” All of the 48 people
She’s got talent Seabeck teen has dreams of making it big in Nashville, Tenn. Page 8
Harrison awaits word on affiliation By Leslie Kelly lkelly@soundpublishing.com
Department of Health officials in Olympia said Wednesday that a directive order by Gov. Jay Inslee that calls for the review the state’s certificate of need process won’t affect the pending affiliation of Harrison Medical Center with the Franciscan Health System of Tacoma. Spokesma n Tim Church said that because the Harrison affiliation was already in progress it will be judged based on the rules in place when it was filed. The department received the application on June 20. “The Harrison application will move forward,” Church said. “What the Governor has done will not affect it.” On Monday, Gov.
Inslee ordered the state Department of Health to “modernize” its certificate of need process, Church said. “It’s not an overhaul,” he said. “There are just things that need to be updated to ref lect the high number affiliations and mergers that are taking place.” The governor stated in his order that the certificate of need process has not keep pace with the number of health-system combinations taking place. He said the department needs to study how affiliations, corporate restructuring, mergers and other arrangements are resulting in outcomes similar to sales, purchase and leases of hospitals, especially when control changes hands. See HARRISON, A13
New parking garage lights will cut down on costs for the city By KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
Brian Kelly /staff photo
Donovan Hosmer sets up an archway of balloons over the track at the Relay for Life at Olympic High School last weekend. His mother, Vickilynn, was the event chairwoman. on the team wore t-shirts that read: “Loving our Patients,” on the front and “Supporting the Fighters, Admiring the Survivors, and Honoring the Angels,” on the back.
Page said she sees patients everyday fighting cancer and by walking, she hopes that her patients know how much she and the Harrison team are hoping and
working for a cure. The Short sisters were a part of a team called “Tom and Friends” who walked for family memSee RELAY, A13
The City of Bremerton, in partnership with Puget Sound Energy, hopes to recoup the costs of installing new energy efficient lights at its Harborside parking facility in a little under four years. The project entails the removal and replacement is of approximately 255 lights fixtures at the garage at 100 Washington Ave. The $75,770 project is being funded, in part, with a 33,509 grant from Puget Sound Energy. The utility estimates that the upgrade will provide a monthly Maintenance and Operations savings of $1,100 per month. The city’s $42,261.22 contri-
bution to the project costs will come from its parking system budget. Officials note that the total annual energy savings is estimated to be 163,067 kilowatt hours per year at $0.07/ kwh. The energy savings are expected to be $11,414.72, with a projected pay back of 3.7 years. At that time it was evident that the lighting at the Harborside parking facility would be the next prime candidate for similar energy efficiency and conservation upgrades to the lighting fixtures. City electronics staff also identified actions that could be taken to greatly reduce energy consumption at the facility.