Swedish Health Service plans to open a $30 million emergency room later this year south of Everett, the first of its kind in Snohomish County.

The new facility, to be called Swedish/Mill Creek, is part of a three-story medical building that will be constructed near the intersection of I-5 and 128th Street Southeast in south Everett at the site of the county’s last drive-in movie theater.

It is expected to employ 130 people. Swedish says the facility has the capacity to treat as many as 35,000 people a year.

The new emergency room will be roughly halfway between the two closest hospitals, about 10 miles from Providence Regional Medical Center Everett to the north and about 8 miles from Stevens Hospital in Edmonds to the south.

“We took a broad look at the Puget Sound region, looking for areas where families were having to drive a significant distance for emergency room and other health care services,” said Kevin Brown, a Swedish senior vice president.

“When you looked at it from the geographic perspective, Mill Creek was one that stood out as being underserved.”

Mill Creek officials perceive the project as a positive addition for their constituents, as the location would mean receiving medical care faster and the shorter distance will be more convenient.

The medical building will be located in Mill Creek’s Municipal Urban Growth Area, or MUGA, and on the city’s side of Interstate 5.

Councilman Mark Harmsworth said the facility could potentially end up within Mill Creek city limits.

But Harmsworth was quick to point out that possibility is a long way out.

“It’s not on the table right now,” he said.

Harmsworth said the location is fabulous and as a parent, appreciates his children would receive medical care sooner if they were injured.

“There are a lot of young families and elderly folks (in Mill Creek) that will access that care,” he said.

Mayor Mike Todd shared similar sentiments for his family.

“It’s a long trek to Everett or Stevens,” Todd said.

Todd said long term plans for the property will possibly be addressed during a future council study session or retreat.

“This is the first piece to fall,” he said.

Todd acknowledged some community members feel nostalgic toward the Puget Park Drive-In, and it will be tough to uproot the swap meet.

“For those of us older people, we remember going to the drive-in; it’s fun,” he said. “It’s not the highest or best use for that property though.”

Construction on the 86,770-square-foot building at 13020 Meridian Ave. SE could begin next month or in early March.

Over the next year, nearly 200 new construction-related jobs will be created, Swedish officials say. An estimated 130 new health care employees will be hired to work at the site.

“We think it will be great for the local economy,” Brown said.

Todd acknowledged the perks of added construction jobs the project will pump into the county and said a medical facility could attract other medical offices and retail.

“It’s a magnet,” he said.

Harmsworth said he is excited by the anticipated boost in jobs and its impact on the local economy.

Swedish officials say it will be very similar to the satellite emergency room it opened in Issaquah in March 2005, which now treats about 23,000 patients a year.

“They’re definitely changing the (competitive) landscape, there’s no doubt about that,” said Rick Cooper, chief executive of The Everett Clinic.

Enterprise editor Katie Murdoch contributed to this report.