Published April 2005

Providence growth
much needed

Over the next 15 to 20 years, Providence Everett Medical Center’s $400 million renovation and expansion of its Colby Avenue campus will contribute positively to the city’s economy, employment and quality medical care.

Hospital management and directors should be commended for their foresight in maintaining high-quality health-care services for not only Snohomish County but also for those in several surrounding counties that depend on this regional medical center for top-level health care.

Snohomish County alone is expected to expand its population from more than 600,000 to 1 million people by 2025. The hospital facilities that so many depend on need to be maintained and expanded, and they will be, thanks to the perceptive planning, financing and construction efforts of Providence’s staff.

For many years now, the hospital has made good on its efforts to achieve regional and national recognition for the quality of its health care, particularly in the challenging realms of cardiovascular and cancer care, efforts that mean local residents no longer have to travel into Seattle for quality care.

Major elements of the master plan include new buildings to replace current structures built in 1924, 1949, 1958 and 1966; two new bed towers, increasing total beds from 362 to 550; an increase in employment from 2,433 to 4,633, with an average annual salary of $58,000; two new parking garages that would increase spaces from 809 to 1,800; and a new cancer care center to be built just north of the present medical center, in conjunction with The Everett Clinic, another major medical organization in the county.

This area is extremely fortunate to enjoy the advantages of such a quality hospital facility as Providence Everett Medical Center, advantages we should never take for granted. Few communities have comparable health-care facilities, and these services are something that should make all of us thankful.

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