PeaceHealth is hunting for the right spot in Vancouver to relocate its headquarters and some back-office operations as the nonprofit health care system moves in to its new role as the corporate parent of Southwest Washington Medical Center.
Peter Adler, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for Bellevue-based PeaceHealth, said the nonprofit is open to moving into existing space or constructing a new building. That facility will harbor the nonprofit’s corporate offices and some employees from its other locations, eventually bringing 340 new jobs to the area.
“We have a team working in the market looking at properties,” Adler said. He added that PeaceHealth is “nowhere near a point yet of narrowing a list to the finalists. We are still in the search process at this point. It’s going well.”
Adler said the emphasis is on finding a location with flexible space that will meet PeaceHealth’s short-term relocation effort and long-term plan to grow.
In August 2010, PeaceHealth sent a letter to the city of Vancouver expressing interest in making the former Columbian building, 415 W. Sixth St. — which the city purchased to serve as its new City Hall — its new headquarters. At that time, the city had owned the former Columbian building for less than two months. The city told PeaceHealth it wasn’t interested in flipping the building.
“It’s not available any longer,” Adler said, “and we’ve moved on.”
Acquisition under review
As the real estate hunt continues, PeaceHealth and Southwest are still working to put the final touches on their merger. On Monday, an administrative law judge appointed by Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler held a public hearing to review a proposal by PeaceHealth to acquire Columbia United Providers, a Southwest subsidiary and health insurance contractor that serves Medicaid patients.
Chief Hearing Officer Patricia Petersen asked the two nonprofits to submit a copy of their merger agreement, which details how PeaceHealth and Southwest will work together.
Petersen said she wanted to review the entire document before deciding on the proposed acquisition of Columbia United Providers. Attorneys for PeaceHealth and Southwest told Petersen they were concerned about submitting to public review a document that contains trade secrets.
Petersen asked the attorneys to flag which parts of the merger agreement they believe should not be made public, and to cite state laws that would protect the information from disclosure, so that she may decide the issue.
It’s unclear when Petersen will receive a copy of the merger agreement or when she will make a decision.
Adler said PeaceHealth and Southwest are working to get the document to Petersen “as soon as we can.” He said the outstanding issue of Columbia United Providers doesn’t affect the overall merger.
All of the other necessary approvals “have been received for the overall PeaceHealth-Southwest affiliation as planned,” Adler said. “We are one.”
Under the merger agreement, the Catholic-sponsored PeaceHealth is the parent of Southwest Washington Health System, which runs Southwest Washington Medical Center.
Southwest and PeaceHealth kicked off merger negotiations in March 2010. In December, the two nonprofits announced that they had reached a final agreement.
