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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Stevens Hospital through the years The hospital opened in 1964 and in 1972 opened a $5.8 million tower. A $1 million emergency room opened in 1977. In 1990, voters approved a $25 million bond issue for hospital improvements. A string of financial losses hit more than $2 million in 2003 and 2004. Officials say the hospital is now about $18 million behind in ongoing improvements. The hospital's taxing district includes 80,354 voters in Brier, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Woodway and surrounding unincorporated areas. Property owners now pay nearly $4 million a year in taxes to support the hospital.   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, May 29, 2008 Stevens Hospital considers satellite ER in south Snohomish County If the hospital pursues the project, it may ask taxpayers to help fund it By Sharon Salyer, Herald Writer EDMONDS -- Stevens Hospital officials are expected to decide within the next two months whether to propose adding a new satellite emergency room in south Snohomish County and whether to ask taxpayers in November to dig into their wallets to pay for it. Hospital officials have said for several years that the emergency room is overloaded. The hospital now treats about 42,000 patients a year, nearly twice the number the space was built for. The cost of adding an emergency room in south Snohomish County is estimated at $40 million to $60 million, board member Fred Langer said. Having a second emergency room that is not part of the current hospital campus in Edmonds would reduce the average time of treatment, which now is about three hours, he said. It also would reduce the amount of time the hospital is on "diversion," meaning its emergency room is so overloaded it's temporarily closed to new patients. Patient waiting times also could be cut by roughly half, he said. The issue is expected to be discussed during a daylong board retreat on July 21, which was arranged so that there could be a discussion of the hospital's future. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the hospital. The meeting time has not yet been set. Even at a cost of $40 million to $60 million, adding a new satellite emergency room is a fraction of the expense of building a new hospital, which could cost about $400 million. However, board president Deana Knutsen emphasized that no decision has been made on what new projects -- if any -- the board might approve. "I agree it's a strong candidate," she said of opening a second emergency room, "but that's not the only thing we're looking at." Although it's unusual for a hospital in Western Washington to open a satellite emergency room, it's not unprecedented. Seattle's Swedish Medical Center currently operates a satellite emergency room in Issaquah, thought to be a first in Washington. The 55,000-square-foot building has 17 exam rooms. The $20 million facility, which opened in March 2005, also includes a sleep lab, an imaging department and a laboratory. The number of patients it treats has grown rapidly, from 11,000 patients during its initial year of operations to an expected 23,000 patients this year, said Chuck Salmon, its director of operations. It also is planning to build a hospital in the Issaquah area. The five-member Stevens Hospital board met for a daylong session earlier this month to discuss its options: Building a new hospital, Opening a new emergency room, or Seeking out some sort of business partnership with another medical organization to help pay for improvements. If it decides to move ahead with any big project, one big question is whether to ask voters to approve a tax increase through a bond issue or a maintenance and operations levy. Bond levies require a supermajority, or approval by 60 percent of voters, while maintenance and operations levies need only a simple majority, Langer said. John Magee, captain of Fire District 1 in south Snohomish County, said he lives in Issaquah and has had family members treated at Swedish's satellite emergency room. "To the lay person, they see no difference," he said. "It's not like going to a clinic. It's a full-on emergency room." A hospital can shut down its emergency room to new patients for two reasons: because it is jammed with patients or because there are no available hospital beds, a situation faced by hospitals throughout the Puget Sound region during flu season earlier this year. Magee said he was happy that Stevens has recognized the problems with the overload of its emergency room and officials "are not throwing up their hands; they're trying to so something to fix it." Board member Bob Meador urged fellow board members on Wednesday to be ready to consider action following its July retreat. He said he would like specifics, such as how much of a tax increase property owners would be asked to approve. Meador, who previously worked as Lynnwood's fire chief for 12 years, said he has no doubt that a second emergency room would cut wait times for patients and the amount of time the hospital's emergency room is intermittently closed to new patients. Despite a downturn in the economy, Meador said he thought there's a good chance voters could be convinced to pay more taxes for a second emergency room. "They say 'I want an emergency room center as close to home as possible,' " he said. But Meador said he thinks the hospital should act before another medical group considers taking similar action. He said he's heard rumors that Swedish has some interest in opening a satellite emergency room in south Snohomish County. "The handwriting is on the wall," Meador said. "Either Stevens … takes control of their future, or someone else will."

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