What’s the deal with all the empty space?

Don’t forget the empty buildings at the highly touted Taylor’s Crossing!

That old Fred Meyer building I think would cost too much to renovate it to be worth while. I think it should be demolished and something new go in there. Some new shopping places and new restaraunts would be nice.

You’re probably right, those are really old.

That is a large area to demolish, from the old Fred Meyer to Albertson’s, and then forward in the parking lot probably until about the Pizza Hut and whatever restaurant is in the old McDonald’s building.

Maybe a new mixed use area can replace all of that? Focus on residential apartment buildings and some town homes (all about 3 stories) with some retail/office mixed buildings, cobblestone roadways interwoven across the middle, and a miniature park or even little natural ampitheatre near that back area where the hill rises?

That would turn that sore spot into a hotspot for Idaho Falls.

RENT!- RENT!- RENT! is the reason for the empty buildings in this town.. Having seen this through friends who rented downtown for years. Each time there was a new owner the rent skyrocketed. $800,$900, $1,000 is outrageous and impossible to meet ( go back to your economics/business classes folkes. You have to make 3 times your costs to stay afloat).
There are probably dozens of small home business who would love a clean, small storefront, but rent prevents this- Remember the Arts Guild who wanted a small store front to show their work but it was the rent that did them in. And remember that it’s the small businesses that are running the local economies today–since all the major businesses find it more economical ( for them) to go overseas. I watched more building owners leave their biuldings empty ( and rotting) rather than lower the rent and get someone in there who would generate a small income for them. It’s fine and dandy to say this or that would be nice to have but in the end if the price isn’t compatible to what the LOCAL economy can handle (not the going national rate) it won’t happen.

Sorry to rain on your parade–I feel IF has a lot going for it but it must include everybody–not just the upper crusts– Boutiques, condominiums, ampetheatres are nice but how about a few jazz or dance clubs ( I love the synphony too but can’t even afford the nosebleed section)

Turn the old Fred Meyers into a new location for the Farmers’ Market–It has out grown the old parking lot downtown. It could rival the ones in Boise if some effort was put into it. ( and why must everyone insist on parking in that lot?–HELLO–it’s a walking market)

I agree with dumbguy ( maybe not so dumb) when it comes to Taylor’s Crossing: Phoney, phoney, phoney–Where was the building commission when it came to telling them to make it look like the surrounding areas? What’s wrong with turn of the century/ 1920’s-1950’s menagerie? It has it’s charm–after all retro is in.

Sorry, Joe, but the facts as I know them (or have been reported to me by objective third-parties) are that while the Walkers are terrific guys, they’re “big picture” people; their implementation staff has been wanting desperately. In fact, their main project manager left literally under cover of darkness a while back w/ no explanation save for a legacy of HVAC problems, networking problems, hardware issues, etc. All sizzle, little steak, IOW. Buildings are sitting vacant; the hospital sign re- “coming soon” has been up for months.

FWIW, and I’m no architect, but I believe that a tenet of architecture is to not place a rose in the middle of a dandelion patch, and vice versa. IOW, the added architecture should be complementary to climate, culture, and tradition, three variables of which TC’s buildings appear to be ignorant.

I’m not wishing the Walkers ill fortune; by all accounts they’re pretty good people. I just think they’re being a bit disingenuous with the people of Idaho Falls.

FWIW……

It, to my eye, simply looks out of place in a high desert, outdoors-oriented, relatively upper-scale community. Character is one thing; overkill is another. They’d “fit” in Montreal, but Idaho Falls? Oh well, one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure….

Joe-
My thought exactly.

Socioeconomically, per capita we’re actually quite upper-end. When you compare cost of living vs. average income; when you look at the homes being built and bought by someone who obviously is not lower middle-class, etc.

I still think the TC buildings look goofy given our surrounding landscape and culture. FWIW, and I’m not LDS, the Temple looks less ostentatious and more classically desert northwest than do any of the TC buildings.

I know a good architect in Phoenix; for kicks I sent him a pic of some of the TC buildings here and asked him for a comment. Said comment was that the plethora of conflicting styles, details, gables, cupolas, bells, shutters, keystones, etc. make them look more like Disneyland creations than that of an architect.

I know it is more than B and N who view Idaho Falls as a more upscale city in Idaho.

Look at some of the other national chains (Target, Olive Garden, Jakers- regional) etc. that decide not to open in Pocatello, or do so many years after they’ve been open in Idaho Falls.

Who got PetsMart, Staples and a lot of other businesses first?

And from a slightly different angle, why is it EIRMC is not only JCAHO accredited, which Portneuf was not the last time I checked, but also has the ONLY Trauma designated E.R. in the state?

When people expand or start businesses there are many factors to assess for employees and their families.

Pocatello gets a Red Lobster.
I’ll go have a cry now.

new in town

All good observations. Thanks for the info. What surprises me the most is that $275.00 search fee at the Journal! WOW! IMO, I’ve not found that publication accurate on many matters so I don’t even bother to look. I find it ironic that the publisher or editor left the Journal approx. 18-24 months ago and moved to Idaho Falls for another, better-paying job.

You are right about EIRMC being a LEVEL III Trauma Center currenty. When they received that designation, the ACS Trauma Accrediging Team asked why they didn’t go for Level II because they would have received it at that inspection.

FEW, if any other hospitals in ID, have an in-house radiologist 24/7. It’s more than a luxury, it’s necessity in high-level trauma. Besides, back-up IR is always on call too for pts. needing those services. It’s my understanding that an in-house surgeon is there at nights with a very short response time during the days.

LDS Hospital, PCMC and the U. of U are all Trauma I hospitals. And Salt Lake County’s population just surpassed 1 Million people. Idaho can’t compete with those facilities and staffing. Neither can WY or MT and often NV.

It isn’t feasible to have a burn unit, transplant teams, and other subspecialties, except at regional centers. Even LDS Hospital has to punt when it comes to the burn unit, to the U., along with other sub-specialties. Conversely, the U. punts to LDS for liver, lung and a few other transplants. PCMC had to add surgeons from LDS to obtain LEVEL I status, and sends patients to both facilities for care.

However, that doesn’t mean a Level II or III can’t provide excellent care (and so can some non-designated Trauma E.R. units). As you know, it’s the ABS Trauma Certification that guarantees the level of care of nationally accepted standards, throughout the U.S. and that is one of the major differences.

I don’t know where Trauma Centers are in some states and I sure don’t want to go somewhere that doesn’t have enough specialties to cover most medical situations. ACS Trauma Designaton guarantees me services provided at ACS- Trauma designated hospital.

If it is a non-Journal reference, please share your references with me about Portneuf passing JACHO as they weren’t certified a year ago (or at least they didn’t make it public). That would be good to know and I’d sincery appreciate the update.

Profit has nothing to do with Trauma certification at Portneuf. If that were the case, why was Bannock also a Trauma III designated unit with less funding, prior to the consolidation? I can’t say one fact I know about why that designation was lost, but I can say it wasn’t based on Portneuf’s profit status.

If one reads (and hears) the various mission statements and goals for Portneuf, via the website and from other media/private sources, the administrator is clear about what he foreses as his centers of excellence dream. Being non-profit, I don’t see how his wish list can be fulfilled. Neither did a lot of the medical staff who have left over the last 4 yrs.

I think with the exodus of physicians, cloaked under various other reasons, one needs to look at Portneuf, in depth, to see why so many have relocated, retired, switched to Locums or are refusing to accept certain illness/injuries in their practices. I’ve personally never seen a physician sell his private practice, like one did in Pocatello, to re-enlist in the Army. But I saw the ad last year in a major medical journal (which I won’t name to protect the privacy of that physician).

There are many non-profit hospitals in Idaho. However, many continue to move forward either independently or with the help of larger hospitals in the area. Madison Memorial is a good example of this. Part of MMH’s expansion wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t from staffing of physicians at EIRMC. Part is due to the growth and need in Rexburg.

Interestingly enough, while I won’t identify the physician by name, there is a physician who relocated to Rexburg from Pocatello last year.

You are right about most hospitals having E.R.’s and varying abilities. However, a Trauma ranking guarantees certain services are always available. There is a reason EIRMC is the White House Hospital of choice for all Gov officials in the area.

Personally, I wish St. Al’s had kept their Trauma Certification. It does cost $ in terms of education of staff, equipment and having all the necessary physicians (and support staff) in-house or within a limited response time.

EIRMC isn’t perfect, but I see greater efforts to build new programs/services that are more what the area needs. This will do nothing but improve local care. The internationally distinguished medical staff buildng two of those programs, would be welcomed in any hospital setting (and have been in the past).

Thanks for the interesting discussion.

New in town - I hope your relative does well at the U. Let me know if I can help in anyway.

You accurately summed up what I had wondered about the Journal.
I wrote feedback on an article I read, which I thought missed the boat by a deseret, and they contacted me wanting my address, demographic info etc. WOW- I thought that was a little over-the-top and I refused. Now I probably understand better.

I agree about all doctors, including surgeons, being honest about their abilities and inabilities. I have had 3 surgeries at the U. and 1 at LDS. Each have their pros and cons. For me, it depends on the specialty, the nature of the problem and who had the most experience treating it.

I hadn’t heard about the letter from the doctor who relocated. Why am I not surprised? I don’t know that doctor personally, but know quite a lot about his/her practice standards. I’m sure it’s an interesting letter that a CEO probably didn’t like receiving. Copies to others…..is just smart “protection” of one’s professional reputation, from what may be hospital’s spin of why yet another doctor has left.

Do you think it is safe to say that doctor is now counting on his/her peers at EIRMC to back him/her on any really difficult cases that MMH can’t manage, instead of Portneuf?

If you haven’t seen it and want to read something interesting, go to IHC.Com and follow all their directions to their new Intermountain Hospital in Murray. Gee, the first unit of that is suppose to open next month. Finally, IHC will have a Trauma I hospital that won’t break up in an earth quake and slide down the aves.

Actually, when Intermountain Hospital totally opens, it will change a lot of things even in referral patterns from ID. hospitals. Intermountain Hospital will be the desginated Trauma Hospital for adults and children, so PCMC will be moving into a different role. Most IHC Salt Lake City Metro hospitals will change some of their duties when Intermountain opens, except for Alta View. IHC ranks their hospitals on a Tier System, with Intermountan being Tier VI-VII. LDSH will become Tier V-VI, depending on whether or not one service is left there. But, all of that is a discussion for another day.

Anyway, read the centers of excellence at Intermountain Hospital, if you haven’t alreay and you get the change. They were established by a board and already have a “supply chain” of feeder IHC hospitals, let alone other referring hospitals. When you read about them, see if you recall ever reading anything that sounds vaguely similiar on a different hospital’s website.

As a hint, that’s when the Journal wanted all the info about me when I mentioned certain plans sounded like photocopies or blueprins of original ideas presented by Intermountain Hospital.

Again, I really hope for the best for your relative. If certain procedures aren’t done enough times at a facility, or there isn’t adequate ICU space for post-op care etc., the responsible thing to do is to send the patient where s/he will get the most experienced team available.

Take care and I’ve really enjoyed talking to you. I appreciate your sensitivity of the “no names, no identifying” info too. Real people with families and careers have a lot at stake.

P.S. I stand corrected about having to put your email address to post on the journal blog site. Back at some point it wouldn’t let you post without it, but I checked again and now it appears to let you.

Don’t forget the unused NE corner of Broadway and Park

Did he buy it, or just leasing?

Getting back to PMC, has anyone checked out the blogfest going on on the ISJ site? Wow…the Journal admitted to pulling several posts from people because they were making PMC mad……..!!!!!!!!!! Holy censorship, Batman….

very vicious fight about what to do with PMC in light of the Frazier decision…..

I’ve received the information removed from the ISJ site, but wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to post them here. I want to help those folks if the ISJ has no publishing spine.

I mean we edit things that go too far out of line here, but the stuff I read did not seem outrageous at all. Every site has the right to their own policies, but from what I’ve read I would be disappointed in them for pulling the materials.

Beyond the existing materials, what is new in that debate that has not already been published on the ISJ site or other places?

If someone has a fresh perspective or thought on the PMC/Capella issue, yes please write up a few paragraphs and email it to me at idahofallz(at ) gmail (dot)com and i’ll happily publish it for you.

Aunt Rose, the acronyms refer to the “Idaho State Journal” (Pocatello’s paper) and “Portneuf Medical Center” (Poky’s hospital). Bit of a mess down there right now, unfortunately.