Stevens Hospital is aging and could become obsolete, Dr. Marc Rosenshein, the hospital’s chief of staff-elect, told board members Monday.
So the board should investigate business partnerships that would allow the hospital to pay for needed improvements, he said.
“We feel we need a capital partner … to help us upgrade our hospital facilities,” he said. “We feel we need this now with no further delay or equivocation.”
Speaking next was Jack Hanson, a policy analyst for the Service Employees International Union 1199 NW, who gave board members very different advice.
He outlined several examples where collaboration or partnerships between two health care organizations did not go smoothly. “We urge you to proceed with prudence and caution as you explore ways to ensure a solid and secure future for the hospital,” Hanson said.
He urged them to keep Stevens as an independent, nonprofit public hospital under local control.
Both men spoke at the end of a four-hour board retreat Monday. Board members and the public listened to consultants from the national consulting firm Shattuck Hammond outline various alternatives for the hospital’s future. These include a joint venture with another health care organization, a merger or the sale of the hospital.
Without such steps, the hospital would have to ask property owners to approve tax increases to pay for improvements, such as a second emergency room, with an estimated cost of $30 million, or a brand new hospital, which could cost close to $400 million.
Currently, property owners in Stevens Hospital’s taxing district pay far less taxes than property owners taxed by Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland or Valley Medical Center in Renton.
South Snohomish County property owners now pay about $3.8 million a year to support the hospital. Kirkland-area property owners pay $23 million in taxes annually to Evergreen Hospital, and Valley Medical Center collects $18 million a year in taxes.
Opening a second emergency room in south Snohomish County has been suggested as one way of dealing with the hospital’s overload of patients. The hospital’s current emergency room, which was built to treat 25,000 to 30,000 patients a year, is now treating about 40,000 annually.
If Stevens does not build a second emergency room, or take other steps to upgrade the hospital, another competitor might, board members were told.
“Other organizations do look at your market as an attractive place to compete,” said Michael Hammond, a managing director with the Shattuck Hammond consulting firm.
“It’s not like you can build a wall and keep out invaders from the north or south.”
Board president Deana Knutsen said she was not sure what the next step might be for the board. Board members met in executive session Monday afternoon to discuss their options and hear more analysis. The five-member board meets again Wednesday for its regular monthly meeting.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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