The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital is in the process of making some big changes. The board and staff have reached out to consulting firms to help the organization pursue a possible affiliation, merger, or sale to a larger health care system.

The hospital’s board of commissioners held a special meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 1, to hear presentations from two consulting firms offering services in affiliations and mergers of hospitals and health care providers. The board ultimately decided pursue a contract with Huebner Advisory, LLC, and Sarah Cave Consulting as their consultants. The board directed hospital staff members to put together a contract to work with Huebner and Cave and bring it to the board for approval at its Feb. 9 meeting.

The board voted four to one in favor of Huebner and Cave; Commissioner David Speikers voted against it. He said he was skeptical that the consultants, due to their relative lack of experience, would be able to get the hospital the best deal possible, despite their knowledge of hospital assets.

“He was right on the money with everything I knew we had available to offer. He knew that he could refinance and save at least a half a million, he knew that we had those kinds of assets… this is exactly what people, whoever our consultant becomes, need to know,” Speikers said, adding “I didn’t like the fact their affiliation experience, carrying it through, they didn’t have a lot.”

Huebner and Cave were chosen over the other firm, ECG Consulting, due to their understanding of the hospital’s current financial situation as well as the assets that would be attractive to another organization looking to acquire the hospital, such as the land owned by the hospital in addition to the east campus.

The east campus, Speikers said, “is going to be a gold mine. The people in the future are going to be able to set up a nursing home, and take care of all the Medicaid patients.”

Huebner and Cave were also the more affordable choice at around $150,000. The board also liked their representatives’s answers to their questions and thought they understood the vision of the hospital in the future.

Tom Parker, CEO of Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, said the hospital was looking at a possible affiliation or merger with a larger hospital system, to secure financial stability and improve the hospital’s health care services.

By partnering with a larger health system, Snoqualmie Valley Hospital would receive support for their services and the strain of financial viability would be reduced, he explained, since a larger health system could absorb the hospital’s debt in a merger.

“There are advantages being part of another hospital and health system, such as economies of scale, shared resources, being able to improve patient transition from different levels of care,” Parker said.

In 2014, the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital was in negotiations for a merger with Overlake Medical Center, but a deal was never finalized. This is the hospital’s second attempt at finding a partner to affiliate or acquire the hospital.

“What I have recommended to the board is we engage a firm who advises hospitals on mergers and acquisition strategy and the entire process. When we get down the path again this we have a higher likelihood of getting a signed deal,” Parker said.

“If we want to engage in a merger or acquisition strategy now is that time, we are financially strong, have cash in the bank, busy, full inpatient unit, now is the time for us to come with a position of strength to any potential affiliate partner.”

The board will discuss and vote on the consultant contract at a public meeting, 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9 in the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital’s conference room.