Ruling May Mean Swedish Can Build Eastside Hospital
By Sonia Krishnan, Seattle Times
Jan. 26–A King County Superior Court judge issued a ruling Thursday that could set the stage for Swedish Medical Center to open a new hospital on the Eastside by 2011.
Judge Bruce Hilyer said the state Department of Health erred in its calculation of available hospital beds when, two years ago, it rejected proposals from Swedish and Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue to build a new Eastside hospital.
In an unexpected twist that stunned Overlake officials, Hilyer said the state only needs to reconsider Swedish’s proposal, since only Swedish filed a petition for review.
“We’re incredibly disappointed,” said Caitlin Hillary, director of strategic planning for Overlake.
The decision is the latest skirmish in the heated battle between Swedish and Overlake to build a new facility to serve the growing population along the Interstate 90 corridor.
The Department of Health — which must approve a new hospital — denied both applications, saying there were enough beds for the region.
Swedish appealed, arguing that the state should not have included 132 beds from Group Health Cooperative in its bed-need calculation since Group Health has announced it will close its Eastside hospital in Bellevue by 2008.
Hilyer agreed and remanded the decision back to the state, saying it needed to recalculate the region’s bed needs without counting Group Health’s Redmond campus.
“Swedish persevered and prevailed,” said Peter Ehrlichman, head attorney for Swedish.
Hilyer’s decision is the latest in a string of legal actions to build a new hospital in Issaquah to serve the growing Interstate 90 corridor.
Last April, an administrative-law judge upheld the state’s original decision that a new hospital would create a glut of patient beds on the Eastside.
Swedish fought the decision, taking it to Superior Court. Overlake chose not to — a move that could put the hospital out of the running.
“There was no foreseeing that only Swedish’s application would go back” to the state, Hillary said. “We thought we had done the right thing.”
She said Overlake didn’t file the petition because it thought it “wasn’t necessary.”
“We thought if the judge remanded it back to the state, they would consider both of the applications,” Hillary said.
She added that she wasn’t sure whether the hospital would appeal that part of Hilyer’s decision. “We need to evaluate that,” she said.
Overlake has proposed building a 120-bed hospital at the Meadow Creek/Lakeside office park in Issaquah.
Swedish, which projects an opening date of 2011, is looking to build on 15 acres in the Issaquah Highlands a 175-bed facility that would include a pediatrics unit, 10 operating rooms and a neurology department.
Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com
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