For islanders who don’t cross the water to the east for their health care, an important meeting is coming up this week you should know about.

On Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Poulsbo City Hall, a public hearing will be held on CHI Franciscan Health’s proposal to move Harrison Medical Center from Bremerton to an expanded Silverdale campus.

The hearing starts at 11 a.m.

It will be conducted by the state Department of Health, and the focus will be on CHI Franciscan’s application for a “Certificate of Need,” a determination by state health officials that the move is necessary.

Multiple news reports have detailed the desire of CHI Franciscan Health to relocate Harrison from its aging site in Bremerton to the newer site in more centralized Silverdale.

The two-phase relocation would be completed at a total cost of $484.6 million, and a decision on the “Certificate of Need” is expected on April 17.

Harrison Medical Center is licensed for a total of 347 beds, according to an Aug. 24 letter to the state from Richard Petrich, CHI Franciscan’s vice president of planning and business development. The Bremerton site currently has 253 inpatient beds, while the Silverdale site has 94, of which 24 are for neonatal patients.

If the relocation proceeds as planned, all inpatient beds and services will be relocated from Bremerton to Silverdale.

The hearing comes as some on Bainbridge have expressed concerns that CHI Franciscan is not meeting community healthcare needs in two areas: women’s reproductive rights health care, and lawful end-of-life care under Washington’s “death with dignity” law.

Residents who can’t make it to the meeting can comment in advance in writing. Send comments to Certificate of Need Program, Mail Stop 47852, Olympia, WA 98504-7852.

For more information, call Karen Nidermayer, 360-236-2957, or go to www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/FSL/certneed/.