Plans to build a state-of-the art hospital in Gig Harbor by Franciscan Health System have suddenly become uncertain, following a traffic study by the city of Gig Harbor showing the organization would need to pay for significant road improvements in Gig Harbor North.

The city study showed that current and proposed projects in Gig Harbor North, including a Costco and YMCA but not including the hospital, will bring significant congestion and require considerable infrastructure improvements. The city also said it would require further environmental impact studies regarding traffic, a move Franciscan officials said would delay the planned 2008 opening of the facility by one to two years.

“…A delay of this nature would threaten the viability of the hospital because of rapidly rising costs of building materials, labor and medical equipment,” Vice President of Communications and Marketing Budd Wagner wrote in a letter to the St. Anthony Advisory Committee on July 8. “St. Anthony is not expected to break even until its fourth full year of operation. So, delays in opening the hospital only worsen its financial outlook. Duplicative outpatient surgical, diagnostic and treatment services planned for Gig Harbor MultiCare Health System to compete with the hospital would compound this.”

Franciscan officials were planning to meet with city staff to suggest ways for changing the Determination of Significance ruling.