Swedish to lease, run Stevens Hospital

Swedish Medical Center will lease and operate Stevens Hospital in Edmonds under an arrangement approved Tuesday by state regulators.

The relationship between Stevens, owned by Public Hospital District No. 2 of Snohomish County, and the much-larger Swedish Medical Center, a Seattle-based not-for-profit, is the first such deal approved by the state.

Under the 30-year arrangement, which goes into effect Sept. 1, Swedish will pay at least $600,000 per month for a lease of the facility and receive the power to make decisions on day-to-day operations. The hospital district that now owns Stevens will continue to exist, as will its broader mission to serve the community, and current Stevens administrators and staff will remain in place, the two parties said.

Cal Knight, Swedish's president and chief operating officer, said both hospitals were financially sound, but each needed a "strong partner in order to grow and improve care in south Snohomish and north King counties."

Stevens, with 1,200 employees, is Edmonds' largest employer. The arrangement gives Swedish, which operates hospital campuses on First Hill, Cherry Hill and in Ballard, a fourth campus. It also operates a network of clinics, visiting-nurse services, and a free-standing emergency department and ambulatory care center in Issaquah. It now employs 7,360 people, including 410 physicians.