Two Whidbey General Hospital properties that aren’t being used will soon be sold off.

Hospital commissioners recently declared two resident properties surplus, one on Echo Loop in Oak Harbor and the other on Highway 525 in Freeland. The hospital has to go through a public process to sell each property.

The hospital was bequeathed a home located on  Echo Loop in 2010. Normally such a donation would go through the foundation. Chief Operating Officer Hank Hanigan said because the hospital was named in the will, the hospital has to go through the lengthy process to sell it.

“We’re not in the business of residential real estate,” Hanigan said, noting the foundation is a separate entity and can sell such a property easier than the hospital.

“It’s a cumbersome process to go through,” hospital board president Anne Tarrant said during the Oct. 14 Whidbey General Hospital board meeting.

The second property is a 1-acre lot located next to Skagit Farmers Supply in Freeland.  The structure used to serve as ambulance quarters until a new EMS facility was constructed around 2008.

“The board doesn’t see a need to retain it,” Hanigan said. He described the structure as being in poor condition and has been vacant since 2008.

The hospital has to go through several steps before selling the properties. Now that both lots have been declared surplus, officials have to hold a public hearing so residents can comment on the merits of the potential sale. Hanigan said that a date for the hearing hasn’t been set yet.

Once the public comment has been taken, then its up to the five-member elected board to decide whether to move forward with the sale of the two properties.