SEATTLE, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Swedish Medical Center this morning submitted a formal Certificate of Need (CON) application to the Washington State Department of Health for a new $197 million hospital in Issaquah. The 340-page document details all elements of the planned Swedish/Issaquah Campus, designed to serve residents of Issaquah, Sammamish, East Bellevue, Carnation, Fall City, North Bend, Snoqualmie and unincorporated East King County.
“The Eastside is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state and there simply aren’t enough hospital beds there to meet expanding community need,” said Kevin Brown, Swedish vice president and Eastside project leader. “In our CON application, we believe we made a compelling case for why Swedish should be authorized to proceed with this important project.”
Brown noted that more than 12 percent of Eastsiders requiring medical care now travel to Swedish’s hospitals in Seattle. “It would be much more convenient for them -- and others -- to be treated closer to home,” he said. “In addition, Swedish already operates two primary-care clinics and a number of specialty clinics at Eastside locations, including Bellevue/Crossroads, Factoria and Pine Lake.”
Swedish has signed options to purchase one of two possible Issaquah sites for the new hospital. The preferred parcel is a 15-acre lot located in the Issaquah Highlands on the east side of Highland Dr. A strong alternative is the 30-acre Issaquah Gateway parcel at the northeast corner of S.E. Newport Way, north of Oakcrest Dr. Swedish representatives are also talking with City of Issaquah officials about other possible sites that may become available in the near term.
Ten acres of the final site would be allocated to the 175-bed hospital, to be built in stages. Space for 80 acute-care beds would open in January 2009, 40 more would be added in 2012, with the final 55 coming online in 2016.
At completion, the 362,000-square-foot Swedish/Issaquah Campus would employ an estimated 600 people and serve tens of thousands of patients each year. The facility would provide a broad range of inpatient and outpatient medical services including oncology, cardiac care, obstetrics, neurosciences, pediatrics, orthopedics, general surgery and intensive care.
Swedish plans to fund the new hospital with financial reserves accumulated over the next several years.
Brown said that Department of Health officials would likely begin review of the Swedish/Issaquah CON this summer. He estimated that process could take up to two years.
Earlier this year, Swedish announced another major Eastside initiative. Swedish signed a 20-year lease on a two-story building to house a new freestanding emergency-room (ER) complex at 2005 N.W. Sammamish Road, across from the entrance to Lake Sammamish State Park. Tenant-improvement work is scheduled to start in September, with a target opening date of February 2005.
In addition to the ER, the Swedish complex will include a medical-imaging center, clinical laboratory, sleep medicine unit and offices for primary-care and specialty physicians. The first of its kind in Washington state, the complex will be staffed by approximately 75 physicians, nurses, technicians and support personnel. It will be open around-the-clock to treat patients with problems requiring immediate and specialized attention. That may include chest pain, stroke, severe cuts and burns, food poisoning, broken bones, severe allergic reactions and work-related injuries.
Swedish Medical Center is the largest, most comprehensive, nonprofit health provider in the Pacific Northwest. It is comprised of three hospital campuses (First Hill, Providence and Ballard), Swedish Home Care Services and Swedish Physicians -- a network of 11 primary-care clinics. In addition to general medical and surgical care, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiac care, oncology, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, neurological care, sleep medicine, pediatrics, organ transplantation and clinical research. For more information, visit http://www.swedish.org/
Swedish Medical Center
CONTACT: Ed Boyle, +1-206-386-2748, or pager, +1-206-405-6482, ored.boyle@swedish.org; or Melissa Tizon, +1-206-215-6069, ormelissa.tizon@swedish.org, both of Swedish Medical Center
Web site: http://www.swedish.org/
