Already cramped in its current quarters and continuing to grow rapidly, Inland Northwest Health Services is looking to move into a larger space, ideally by the end of this year, says Tom Fritz, the Spokane organizations CEO.


INHS has circulated a request for proposals to the Spokane-area development community through which its seeking a 60,000-square-foot space to house its offices, Fritz says.


INHS currently has five proposals that its considering, and it hopes to move ahead with one of those options within 30 days, he says.


We have staff in multiple sites now, Fritz says. We need something that will accommodate our business-growth needs.


As the search for more space proceeds, the organization continues to grow quickly. Fritz says it expects to hire between 30 and 50 full-time-equivalent employees this year, adding to the 900-some employees it has now.


One of the main areas of growth is in its Information Resource Management unit, which operates an electronic medical records system for more than 30 hospitals in the region and holds more than 2.6 million electronic patient records. Fritz says the organization expects to add six hospitals to that system yet this year.


INHS, formed collaboratively by Spokane-area hospitals in 1994 to handle a group of health services, operates St. Lukes Rehabilitation Institute, Information Resource Managements electronic medical-records system, Northwest TeleHealth video-conferencing network, and Northwest MedStar air-ambulance service, among others.


More than half of its employees work at St. Lukes Rehabilitation Institute and Northwest MedStar, both of which will stay in their respective locations. About 400 of the organizations 900 employees work in INHSs main offices in the Holley Mason Building, at 157 S. Howard downtown, and in a small amount of additional space the organization has leased in the nearby Steam Plant Square. Those employees would be moved into the new quarters.


We need to have everybody in the same place, Fritz says. With people in different locations, he says, It creates inefficiency and increases our costs.


With a new 60,000-square-foot space, the organization could consolidate much of its current operations, configure them more efficiently than they are set up now, and have space for future growth, Fritz says.


The proposals under review include both existing buildings and proposed structures that would be built specifically for INHS, and they involve sites in different parts of the Spokane area, Fritz says. While the organization hasnt ruled out sites in different parts of the Spokane area, its preference is to be near Sacred Heart Medical Center and Deaconess Medical Center, both of which are located on Spokanes lower South Hill.


INHS isnt considering locations outside of Spokane County, Fritz says.


Ideally, he says, the organization would be able to move to larger quarters between this October and December.


INHSs electronic-records data center is located in Sacred Heart Medical Centerits system backup is located at Kootenai Medical Centerso it doesnt require any technological capabilities for its new quarters beyond what a conventional office-space occupant would need, Fritz says.


In addition to wanting to be close to Sacred Heart and Deaconess, INHS wants an option to buy its new quarters, Fritz says, though the organization is open to looking at different ways such an arrangement could be structured.


Contact Linn Parish at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at linnp@spokanejournal.com.