Published August 2004

Bastyr considers creating presence in Everett
Branch campus a possibility for university specializing in natural medicine

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

For a quarter century, Bastyr University has been a driving force in the field of naturopathic medicine nationwide. Now, Everett is focusing its attention on the Kenmore-based school — and the health practices and educational possibilities it can bring to the community.

Everett leaders first approached Bastyr about relocating its campus to city land eight months ago after considering what would be the most appropriate use for the prime acreage located on the former site of the Simpson lumber mill along the Snohomish River, said Lanie McMullin, executive director for Everett.

“In terms of a tenant for the riverfront, there couldn’t be a better tenant,” said McMullin, noting the livable-wage jobs, educational opportunities and health-care options that the school could bring to the area.

At the time, however, Bastyr was in the midst of permit planning to expand its campus, located on 50 acres of land on the northeast shore of Lake Washington. It didn’t make fiscal sense to pick up and move, said Sandi Cutler, vice president for institutional planning and public affairs at Bastyr.

Everett’s interest in the school and its desire to integrate its naturopathic practices into the community’s health matrix intrigued the university, though, and a dialogue began on how Bastyr could be involved, with ideas ranging from establishing a branch campus to partnering with other health and educational organizations, Cutler said.

“For us to make a major decision, we needed to have a better understanding of what the community’s interest was,” he said.

In April, Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson appointed a task force of community, governmental, health care and educational leaders to review the opportunities of a community partnership with the private, nonprofit university.

Through meetings with community groups and organizations, the task force developed a report of findings and recommendations for immediate as well as long-term opportunities ranging from Bastyr working with Community Health Centers to expand low-income access to complementary and alternative medicine to establishing an Everett campus.

Bastyr’s board of trustees recently took the first step in committing to a Snohomish County presence by voting to work closely with Everett and the developer eventually to be chosen for the riverfront project, Cutler said.

The school is expected to present the city with a conceptual plan for the site in August, McMullin said. Then the City Council will decide whether that usage is significant enough to surplus the site for the good of the whole.

If the city does decide to surplus the site for the presence of a four-year educational institution, that doesn’t automatically mean Bastyr will be the institution, she added. “There could be other institutions that answer that call.”

If Bastyr does establish a branch in Everett, it most likely would be a gradual addition of buildings, Cutler said, in a process that could take years.

“We’re looking at a lot of different possibilities,” he said. “Ideally, whatever happens on the Simpson pad has to be a component, complementary with the rest of the riverfront development.”

“We don’t really know what is going to happen,” he said of the site, which could, when all is said and done, be a focal point for health and wellness, not just Bastyr.

For now, the school is working with Everett Community College to create formal articulation agreements for a number of health and wellness programs, Cutler said.

It’s a ready-made partnership, as Bastyr does not offer the first two years of college curriculum and EvCC has developed a strong relationship with the community it serves and understands it needs, he said.

Another immediate goal of Bastyr’s is to work with Providence Everett Medical Center and The Everett Clinic to combine traditional and alternative approaches to medicine.

“We’ve had meetings with people at the hospital and The Everett Clinic, and they were very receptive,” Cutler said.

“We’re really excited about the opportunity that exists in Everett, looking at how can we, together, transform the quality of the health of the community,” he said.

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