Breathtaking. That’s the only way to describe a view I hope never to see again.
I’m talking about the sweeping vista from the helicopter pad atop the 12-story Providence Cymbaluk Medical Tower. I was up there just long e
nough to take in that amazing view of Everett and far beyond.
On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to attend the blessing of the new tower. After a ceremony conducted by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, the Catholic leader took an elevator to the top, where he blessed the helipad and sprinkled it with holy water.
The head of the Archdiocese of Seattle, which covers all of Western Washington, went floor to floor blessing the huge building at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett’s Colby Campus.
It was an emotional event, a time to recognize the long history of the Sisters of Providence and to get a glimpse of the hospital’s very big future.
Dave Brooks, the hospital’s chief executive, welcomed the archbishop, Providence staff and guests to the “incredible medical tower and sacred healing space.”
As stunning and state-of-the-art as the new building is, some of its closest neighbors see it as a mixed blessing at best. In 2008, long before the $460 million tower rose from the ground, many homes in Everett’s Northwest Neighborhood displayed yellow signs opposing hospital expansion plans. My house wasn’t one of those.
Some homeowners remain very unhappy about losing views or sunlight, or about construction, street and sewer projects related to the building. Most everyone in the neighborhood wishes we hadn’t lost the Everett Community College athletic complex to the Providence project.
Those are real losses.
Living where I do, two blocks west of the Everett hospital, I’m very aware of strong opinions about our newest neighbor, a building so large it dominates Everett’s skyline. You won’t hear me complaining — not about a place that saves lives and provides thousands of jobs.
Following the archbishop as he made his rounds, I saw parts of the hospital that were solemn reminders of its purpose. Starting with that helipad — a place I really never want to visit again — I could only imagine the critical medical needs that would cause a suffering patient to be brought there.
On the tower’s Level B1, dedicated to emergency and trauma services, Sartain paused for more than a blessing. “I’ve been in many emergency rooms,” he said before blessing the area. “They are very stressful, and people are frightened.”
If you have never visited an emergency room with a loved one seriously in need of medical care, you really are blessed — and lucky. Most of us have been in that situation.
Providence Cymbaluk Medical Tower’s emergency services area is equipped with 79 private treatment rooms, plus rooms for major emergencies and trauma, with X-ray and CT scan equipment available without going elsewhere.
I saw a brightly lit surgery room and a post-anesthesia care unit, parts of a hospital the public wouldn’t ordinarily ever see.
Seeing those places, equipped with the latest technology, was a comfort that reinforced the words of the archbishop’s homily: “When we talk about providence, we’re talking about God’s loving and wise care for every living person.”
Wednesday’s event celebrated a building filled with the power to heal. It also honored people who worked to make it so.
During the blessing service, I sat next to Sister Dorothy Klingele, who in 2007 retired after serving in health care with the Sisters of Providence since 1953. Between prayers Wednesday, she whispered, “I served in Providence over 20 years. I love this place — and its people.”
Behind me sat Marshall and Katherine Cymbaluk, whose extraordinary $5 million donation to the tower project set a high bar for charitable giving in this community. Katherine Cymbaluk once worked as a registered nurse at what used to be Everett General Hospital. The new tower is named in their honor.
“I think the best hospital in the country is in Everett, Washington,” Brooks said after the ceremony.
That would be a true blessing.
Tour the tower
The public is invited to tour the new Providence Cymbaluk Medical Tower at an open house from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The building on the Providence Regional Medical Center Everett campus is at 1700 13th Street. Parking is available in the hospital garage and at the gravel lot across from the hospital campus.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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