St. Charles Medical Center in Bend is so busy that it ran out of hospital beds two or three times last year and had to transfer patients to Redmond.

The hospital’s growth rate for 2000 was almost twice that of the city of Bend, said Rick Martin, senior vice president of operations. The number of patients discharged from St. Charles increased by 8 percent in 2000 and the number of outpatient visits, including emergency room visits, diagnostic tests and outpatient surgeries, was up 15 percent.

Such growth is also happening at hospitals throughout the region, adding to the challenge of transferring patients. Officials recall a day last year when all facilities in the region were full.

”I think we’re seeing on all fronts the impacts of growth in the community,” said Don Wee, executive director of Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville. The number of patient admissions there also increased by 8 percent in 2000.

In Redmond, the 48-bed Central Oregon Community Hospital (COCH) also has reached its capacity a few times in the past year, according to Pam Steinke, vice president for patient care services at Cascade Health Services.

The Redmond hospital is especially seeing the growth in operating rooms. The number of surgeries performed on campus has increased 13 percent, resulting in COCH extending its surgery hours, Steinke said.

Mountain View District Hospital in Madras also has experienced notable growth in the past year, according to Laura Spaulding, director of marketing for the hospital. Spaulding said the Madras hospital has reached capacity a few times in the past year.

This growth correlates with what’s happening with the region’s population. Still, growth in health care appears to be going faster largely because of the increasing number of senior citizens moving to the region who want all the health care services needed to maintain active lifestyles, according to Nancy Moore, vice president for healing health services at St. Charles.

”The older people who move here seem to be more into quality of life,” Moore said.

Plus, baby boomers are beginning to access more health care services.

All this has hospital officials looking to the future. Wee said the Prineville hospital is recruiting more physicians and is building a new medical facility for physicians at its campus.

In Madras, Spaulding said new patient rooms already are under construction. At St. Charles, Moore and Martin said they are studying the needs of the Bend hospital and looking at areas in need of expansion and possible changes in health care in the next decade.

”We think we need to build, but we’re not sure where, how or what,” Moore said.

The study also will take a look at the needs of the Redmond hospital and what could be expanded there. St. Charles and COCH recently merged to create Cascade Health Services.

One area that needs to be addressed, they said, is the increase in the number of outpatient surgeries. More than half of the 11,800 surgeries performed at St. Charles in 2000 were outpatient procedures. Last year, the hospital tripled the size of its outpatient surgery center in a $7 million remodel.

It built six new operating rooms but only opened four, not seeing the need for the other two for several years. But Martin said the hospital has already opened the fifth room and is preparing to open the sixth.

Another area of concern is the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Martin and Moore said the NICU has reached its capacity a few times in the past year. It is the only NICU in the region and when it is full, babies must be transferred to Portland.

The hospital also must address available patient beds and emergency room space. St. Charles has 170 beds available, but it usually keeps six to seven of those beds open to traumas because St. Charles is the only hospital in Central and Eastern Oregon equipped to deal with major traumas.

In the meantime, hospital officials are finding ways to handle the growth with its existing space. For one, St. Charles has significantly increased its staffing for direct patient care. The hospital hired 100 new employees, including 69 registered nurses, in 2000.

When space gets tight, the hospital puts two patients instead of one in semi-private rooms. In addition, Moore said a private discharge lounge has been created for patients who are ready to leave the hospital but are waiting for their rides so that rooms can be freed up sooner.

When appropriate, the hospital also encourages patients to use home health care services so that they may go home sooner.

The hospital also is working on lack of available parking. A few months ago, golf cart shuttles started cruising the parking lots to offer people rides.

Martin and Moore said patients can help ease the pressures at crowded hospitals by becoming more informed about health care services. Patients can sometimes save a more costly trip to the emergency room by visiting an immediate care center instead. And hospital officials also encourage people to establish a relationship with a primary care physician.

Also, St. Charles has new resources available to help educate people about taking care of themselves. On its Web site, the hospital offers the CareWise program, which gives people the chance to ask questions about health conditions and get answers that have been reviewed by doctors and nurses. It also has established a nurse advice line, 800-665-3795, and is offering free self-care books to all residents of Deschutes County. The books are available from the Deschutes Public Library System and from Waldenbooks.

”We think people do best when they are knowledgeable and informed about their care,” Moore said.

Still, Moore added, hospital officials realize that these resources will not eliminate the need for more space at the hospital. Martin said he believes the growth will slow a bit but they need to plan ahead.

”We’re absolutely committed to meeting the needs of the region and we will do it in the best way possible,” Moore said.