Snoqualmie Valley Health Board of Commissioners voted last week in favor of a resolution to ask homeowners within the district to support a levy lid lift on an April 25 ballot.
The district seeks to increase the current levy from 23 to 70 cents to serve the growing Snoqualmie Valley communities better. The district is focused on expanding the hospital’s emergency department, critical equipment, and necessary medical infrastructure for emergent behavioral health patients. The last time the hospital district went to the voters to support a levy lid lift was in 2008.
As the population of King County Public Hospital District #4 has grown, the levy rate has decreased, providing a unique opportunity to further our local hospital. As the district’s population has grown, so have patient volumes at the hospital’s emergency room, a Level 5 Trauma Center. The emergency room is the only trauma center between the district’s eastern border at the Kittitas County line on Snoqualmie Pass and Bellevue.
Additional revenue from the levy increase will:
- Support an Emergency Department expansion will help keep wait times lower than other regional facilities,
- Provide additional support in the Emergency Department to meet increasing behavioral health needs,
- Replace aging and broken equipment – CT scanner for stroke diagnoses, and large-bore MRI that accommodates more patients and allows additional types of exams to be done locally,
- Add mammography to support the growth of needed women’s services, and
- Enable a long-term vision to add same-day surgery.
“We take asking our community to raise the levy rate seriously,” said SVH CEO Renee Jensen. “The need is critical for securing the future of healthcare and keeping care local in our community. Additional revenue from the levy would go directly to enhancement of critical services and upgrades in equipment. Growing our services also means adding family wage, professional, jobs right here in our community.”
The boundaries for the district run from the Duvall border in the north to Tiger Summit to the south, Preston in the west, and the Kittitas border to the east. The entire district covers about 400 square miles.
Snoqualmie Valley Health includes Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Clinic, Snoqualmie Ridge Medical Clinic, Snoqualmie Valley Specialty Clinic, Snoqualmie Ridge Urgent Care and Snoqualmie Valley Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation.
