MultiCare is on the planning road to build an emergency department and 58-bed hospital in Covington to serve the south King County area.
MultiCare has scheduled a town hall meeting to gather information from the public about the projects from 6-8 p.m. April 14 at Cedar Heights Middle School, 19640 S.E. 272nd St. in Covington.
Hugh Kodama, administrator of Covington MultiCare said, “One of the main things is for the general public to understand what we are trying to do. We want two-way communication to see what their concerns are and gauge their enthusiasm.”
One of the highlights of the proposal is MultiCare will provide pediatric care services in the emergency department and hospital.
Kristopher Kitz, director of strategic planning and business development, said the emergency department will “have a pediatric component and the hospital will have a pediatric floor staffed my Mary Bridge staff.”
Currently there are only two facilities in the region offering pediatric care according to Kodama, MultiCare’s Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma and Seattle Children’s Hospital.
An important component of the health care proposal from MultiCare is placing a third pediatric care facility in the region.
According to Kitz, another feature the MultiCare facility will offer to patients is an integrated electronic medical records system, which allows health care providers to access a patient’s information quickly through a computer network.
“If you show up at the emergency department a doctor can access all of your information,” Kitz said.
Kodama said, “We are trying to be innovative with patient care. We are looking at how do we prepare ourselves for the future. We are trying to do things more innovative and still give patients the best possible treatment.”
Kitz said MultiCare has filed a Certificate of Need with the state Department of Health. Before MultiCare can build the hospital, the department must approve the certificate.
Kitz said MultiCare is “responding to the first round of screening questions.” A decision is expected from the department in the late summer.
The plans at this point is to complete the emergency department in early 2012 and the first phase of the hospital in 2014. This phase would include 34 beds, a women, and children’s center, childbirth services and expanded surgical services including the installation of robotic-assisted surgeries. Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital physicians and pediatric care services will also be in place.
The second phase will add 24 beds and is projected to be completed in 2015.
“When we built this facility in 1993 we built it with the idea of expanding,” Kodama said. “We have watched for years and now is the time, but we want to do it right rather than just be first in the market. We are not concerned with what anyone else is doing and we are not trying to cram anything down anyone’s throat.”
MultiCare will provide refreshments at the town hall meeting and licensed child care will be available.
