Date: November 10, 2025

Across Eastern Washington, small hospitals and clinics are the backbone of their communities. They provide lifesaving care, good jobs, and stability for families. But many hospitals are struggling to stay open. With rising costs and shrinking support, these hospitals face a future where reserve funds will soon run out.

The Mission of Prosperity Eastern Washington is to call attention to the need for thriving local economies that support the hardworking families in rural Eastern Washington communities.

These billboards are located in these areas: Cheney, Medical Lake, Rockford, Fairfield, Ritzville, Sprague, Latah, Rosalia, Clarkston, and Walla Walla. The billboards are a reminder that hospitals and healthcare clinics are vital to their local, rural economies. When rural hospitals close or reduce their services, entire communities are affected.

Date: November 16, 2025

In late September, Prosperity Eastern Washington installed a billboard on HWY #395 in Ritzville that stated: “How Far For Care When East Adams Closes”. This billboard message prompted numerous local residents to call East Adams Hospital concerned about the billboard message, frantic that they may be losing their hospital. Due to the volume of calls, the hospital Chief Operating Officer, Dallas Killian asked us to take the message down. While we have a right to freedom of speech, we did agree to minimize the impact by changing the message to: “How Far For Care If East Adams Closes”. That message remained there until this week.

On 11/12, The Spokesman Review headline stated that Ritzville Hospital will lay off over 100 employees in January, and that East Adams Rural Healthcare is in critical financial straits. Prosperity Eastern Washington is concerned that with this many layoffs, the hospital services will be slimmed and the local residents will suffer from a lack of critical services. The Ritzville community deserves to know the truth that their critical access hospital might not exist in the near future.

The Mission of “Prosperity Eastern Washington” is to call attention to the need for local economies to thrive, and support the hardworking families in rural Eastern Washington communities.