New hospital tower tops out

EVERETT — Construction workers have set the final steel beam on the top of the 12-story, $500 million medical tower being built at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.

The “topping out” of the steel structure, which occurred on Friday, marks another milestone in construction of the building, which began Sept. 27, 2008.

“To us, it’s a very big deal, both practically as well as emotionally,” said Dave Brooks, the hospital’s chief executive.

The new tower is the biggest construction project undertaken by Providence Health & Services, the parent organization to Everett’s hospital, which has health care facilities in five Western states, Brooks said.

The 680,000-square-foot building is expected to open in August 2011.

It will have the capacity for up to 368 patient rooms, although the building will open with approximately 300 rooms ready for patients. More will be added later as needed.

The new emergency room, which will take up an entire floor of the new building, will have space to treat up to 78 patients at a time.

The hospital expects to treat between 105,000 and 110,000 patients in its current emergency room this year. The number of patients coming to the emergency room has been growing 5 percent to 7 percent a year, Brooks said.

The new emergency room will have the capacity to treat 150,000 patients a year, Brooks said.

The new hospital tower is the second largest construction project now under way in the county. The largest is the $1.84 billion Brightwater project near Maltby that will treat sewage from homes and businesses in King and south Snohomish counties.

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, salyer@heraldnet.com.