EvergreenHealth Monroe buys medical office building
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Monroe — EvergreenHealth Monroe has begun an expansion of its hospital campus, including expanding its emergency room and acquiring an outpatient medical building across the street from the medical center.
Hospital CEO/Chief Administrative Officer Lisa LaPlante said the first phase of the expansion began in July when EvergreenHealth Monroe acquired the Sky River Medical Center for $24.6 million.
She said the seller was Remedy Medical Properties. Remedy, based in Chicago, is a large owner of medical buildings in the U.S.
She said EvergreenHealth Monroe had been paying rent to house some of its clinics in the medical office building, including imaging and urgent care.
Around 8,000 of the 49,000 square feet of the three-story building is empty, said EvergreenHealth Monroe spokesperson Cody Miller. He said an Evergreen urinary clinic recently moved into the building, and the hospital is currently evaluating how to best use the rest of the space.
LaPlante said an expansion of the hospital’s emergency room is in the design phase. She said the plan is to expand the facility from 14 beds to 18 beds to meet the growing population of central Snohomish County.
“Emergency room waits can be long,” LaPlante said, noting that the facility is often at capacity.
LaPlante said the emergency room expansion could take several years to complete. She said the hospital has not yet determined the final cost of the project, which would also need final approval from the hospital’s board.
LaPlante said EvergreenHealth Monroe is licensed for 72 medical beds by state health officials, but the facility only has room for 27 beds.
She said an evaluation is ongoing as to how to better use the hospital footprint to accommodate more beds.
LaPlante said community medical needs are growing due to population increases.
She said the hospital added on Nov. 3 a neurology practice to the facility’s multi-speciality clinic, which is located in the medical center’s main building. Adding the specialty, LaPlante said, also eliminates the commute for local residents who used to travel to EvergreenHealth’s main campus in Kirkland.
EvergreenHealth Monroe used to be called Valley General Hospital.
Back in 2012, the boards of Valley General Hospital and EvergreenHealth in Kirkland voted to approve an agreement making Valley General an affiliate of Evergreen.
Both hospitals remained independent, but EvergreenHealth began to open medical clinics in the Sky River Medical Center building.
Valley General kept its name at first, but in November 2014, the boards of both hospitals entered into an expanded agreement, with Evergreen Health taking over management of the Monroe Hospital.
The name changed from Valley General to EvergreenHealth Monroe, and the management switch took place in March 2015.
Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com
