Former Lakeside will be site of new Barton Hospital

The former Lakeside Inn will become the new home base of Barton Health, the hospital announced on Friday.

“We are excited to receive this direction from the Board of Directors, securing Barton’s future as Lake Tahoe’s community health partner,” said Barton President and CEO Dr. Clint Purvance. “The future of healthcare is complex and changing, and we have a responsibility to remain viable and capable of providing care to this community for another 60 years, which is why we are developing plans for the Barton Regional Expansion.”

According to www.bartonhealth.org, California’s 2030 seismic standard will require the hospital to build from scratch as its current hospital located in South Lake Tahoe won’t meet requirements.

“Rebuilding and retrofitting the current hospital facility to meet our needs and regulations would require a complex and financially-prohibitive staging and moving of patient care services while the project is constructed in multiple, years-long phases,” said Purvance. “Barton is fortunate to carry little debt and have campuses in both California and Nevada, resulting in several scenarios for consideration. Fiscal responsibility demanded we assess both campus locations to understand cost, timelines, patient care disruption, and growth opportunities in each location to best meet the needs of the future.”

A new Nevada-based hospital will allow Barton to reassign services in each location to best meet the shifting needs of our population.

After nearly a year of analysis, consideration and input, Barton’s board of directors voted on Nov. 17 to develop in-depth plans to build a new hospital in Nevada, which, when completed, will replace the current acute care facility in South Lake Tahoe.

“In addition to a Nevada-based hospital, Barton will continue to offer a robust outpatient presence on both the South Lake Tahoe and Stateline campuses,” officials said.

The approval will allow planning to start for construction and the board will review the plan and possible vote on final approval by fourth quarter of 2023.

Expansion of Carson Valley Medical Center is underway south of Gardnerville. The Valley hospital is affiliated with both Barton and Renown Regional Medical Center.