Sacred Heart gets go-ahead to expand

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center will be allowed to add 75 new patient beds under a legal settlement reached today.
The beds will come at the expense of Holy Family Hospital, Sacred Heart’s affiliated hospital in North Spokane.
Sacred Heart’s expansion was initially conceived 3 ½ years ago as a $175 million-plus project that would have added 173 beds and made Sacred Heart the largest medical center in Washington State. Those long-range plans were denied by the state Department of Health, however – with the exception of adding 21 hospital beds for babies. The Department Health staff are charged …

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center will be allowed to add 75 new patient beds under a legal settlement reached today.

The beds will come at the expense of Holy Family Hospital, Sacred Heart’s affiliated hospital in North Spokane.

Sacred Heart’s expansion was initially conceived 3 ½ years ago as a $175 million-plus project that would have added 173 beds and made Sacred Heart the largest medical center in Washington State. Those long-range plans were denied by the state Department of Health, however – with the exception of adding 21 hospital beds for babies. The Department Health staff are charged with regulating how many patient beds a community needs.

Community Health Systems, the for-profit hospital operator that runs rival Deaconess Hospital and Valley Hospital, has objected to Sacred Heart’s expansion plans.

A settlement announced Monday also would allow Community Health to relocate 75 beds of its own between Deaconess and Valley.

This story is developing and will be updated.