Our Community's Needs

The COVID-19 pandemic and the numerous impacts it had on EvergreenHealth and hospitals across our region have highlighted the acute need for additional hospital bed capacity on the Eastside. There is already a lack of inpatient and critical care beds at EvergreenHealth as evidenced by consistently elevated bed occupancy rates, regular use of overflow patient care areas and patient boarding in the emergency department. Through 2022 after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, occupancy rates illustrate the Puget Sound region is in dire need of more hospital beds. Inpatient hospital capacity requires some room in the system to account for fluctuations in patient activity like emergency department volumes, community illnesses, elective surgical admissions, among many other things.

However, EvergreenHealth's patient census has most recently averaged near 90%, well above the optimal capacity level of 70%. This consistently high patient volume has adverse effects for patients, staff and the overall community, which relies on its public health system to deliver timely essential services. As these circumstances persist through 2023, EvergreenHealth has been left with zero unutilized surge capacity, which means our community is left vulnerable to a future pandemic or mass casualty event. On a broader level, Washington state has the fewest number of staffed hospital beds per 1 million residents in the entire U.S. Meanwhile, projections show that by 2030, EvergreenHealth will need an additional 94-206 patient beds to accommodate 70% patient occupancy across its medical, surgical and maternity departments. However, the hospital's most recent patient occupancy averaged nearly 88%.

As a nationally recognized community-owned hospital, EvergreenHealth aims to continue providing the best care at for the best value. By investing in the hospital our community built nearly 51 years ago, we ensure that EvergreenHealth will be here for decades to come, serving everyone in our community with acute, chronic and preventive health care, welcome new babies into the world, supporting loved ones at the end of life's journey and providing high quality and cost-effective care close to home.

How does EvergreenHealth ensure that its Strategic Growth Plan addresses our community's needs?

Like most responsible organizations, EvergreenHealth's Strategic Growth Plan continuously evolves. With ongoing research, census analysis, and partnerships with King County, EvergreenHealth makes data-driven decisions to ensure our services and the scope of our care grows and adapts alongside the expanding and changing population we serve.

As we grow and age, our healthcare needs change. So too do the healthcare needs of each individual community. Our plan specifically addresses the healthcare needs that are on the horizon for our district.

Our current Strategic Growth Plan looks decades into the future and addresses the following imperative community health needs:

Significant Increases in Patient Volume and Population Growth

EvergreenHealth and other area hospitals are already operating at and over capacity. Washington state has the fewest number of hospital beds per capita in the nation , yet the Eastside population is both aging and growing overall. As such, demand for healthcare is projected to significantly increase, and the risk of not being able to serve everyone who needs hospital-level or inpatient care is a tangible and current threat to the health of our community and families we serve.

Since 2007, when EvergreenHealth's Silver Tower was constructed, EvergreenHealth's district population alone has grown by almost 12%

• In the next seven years EvergreenHealth's Medical/Surgical total bed need will range between 355 to 467, for a net need of an additional 94-206 total beds.
• At the low end of the range, this projection is based on population growth coupled with an aging community.
• At the higher end, moderate gains in market share, as a result, for example, of new patients moving their care to EvergreenHealth from other healthcare systems, would mean an even higher level of bed need.

Since 2010, patient volume at EvergreenHealth has grown substantially:

• Outpatient visits have increased by 123%
• Surgeries have increased by 30%
• Emergency Department visits have increased by 16%
• Inpatient days have increased by 63%

Since 2015, at EvergreenHealth:

• Visits to our clinics have increased by 95%

Our Strategic Growth Plan solves this issue by addressing the increasing demand for healthcare services and unprecedented growth in patient volume, EvergreenHealth's Strategic Growth Plan includes:

• Expand operating room (OR) and surgery services by developing inpatient and outpatient OR space in the Silver Tower to accommodate the increase in patient volume with modernized equipment to support the growing needs of our community.
• Construct a new 8-story tower to expand inpatient capacity and improve staff efficiency. The tower will also have capacity to house floors dedicated to critical specialties, including cancer, a new pediatric behavioral unit and an expanded pediatric inpatient unit.

Demand for Mental & Behavioral Health Services

Families in our community are struggling with mental and behavioral health more than ever before. Currently, there are inadequate services and resources to serve everyone in need, and the services and mental health resources that do exist are at capacity – leaving many people without access to care.

As a public hospital district, growing and evolving to meet our community's healthcare needs is foundational to our mission, and we are committed to finding solutions to this complex and growing population of people in our community who need mental and behavioral health care.