Stevens given time to consider partnership

Published 11:56 am Wednesday, April 8, 2009

EDMONDS

Stevens Hospital, which had set a six-month deadline for wrapping up an agreement with Swedish Medical Center on how the two organizations might work together, will instead get more time to think it over.

Representatives of the Seattle hospital told Stevens board members that there’s no rush to come to a decision.

“Right now, I’d like to take the pressure off the situation by having us step back and giving you the time you need,” Cal Knight, Swedish’s president and chief operating officer, said to board members during a meeting Thursday evening, April 2.

“We’re here and ready to re-engage in discussion at any time that makes sense.”

Both he and Dr. Rod Hochman, Swedish’s chief executive, noted that Swedish had long-standing relationships with Steven’s heart and cancer programs.

Swedish now has 13 employees working at Stevens’ cancer center and 25 employees at its heart center.

Talks on some sort of more formal partnership between the two organizations began in October.

In February, about 20 Stevens’ physicians urged the hospital’s five-member publicly elected board to take quick action on a potential new business partnership with Swedish.

In March, the board decided it would try to come to a decision within six months.

But questions lingered, such as what, exactly, each organization would get out of the deal.

What was initially proposed, in part, was a management agreement with Swedish administrators coming to Stevens.

Knight said that it was suggested as one way to get things moving relatively quickly.

“We’re wide open to anything that makes sense,” he said.

Board member Bob Meador said Swedish’s decision to back away from a deadline gives the Stevens board time to regroup. “I think you guys have been very open about this,” he said.

“It gives us a chance to talk about our future and our needs.

“There’s no reason to push each other toward a frustrating relationship,” Meador added. “We have a great relationship now, and we don’t want to ruin that.”

After the meeting, Knight said it’s still possible that an agreement between the two organizations could be hammered out this year.

“We remain interested,” he said. “We think there’s great potential for these two organizations to come together in some way.”

Sharon Salyer writes for the Herald of Everett.