An award-winning, Pacific Northwest architectural firm has been chosen to design the new Enumclaw Regional Hospital.
The selection of Mahlum Architects was announced early this week by the Franciscan Health System, which includes Enumclaw Regional Hospital and three other major hospitals in the South Puget Sound region.
Construction of the new Enumclaw hospital is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2008. At 90,000 square feet, it will be nearly twice as large as the existing hospital.
It will be built just north of the existing hospital, across Battersby Avenue, on hospital-owned land.
“We have chosen an architectural firm that is renowned for the quality of its work in designing hospitals and other health care facilities,” said Enumclaw resident Ted Lewis, a member of the hospital's board of directors who chairs the Building and Property Committee. “We want to provide our community with a modern hospital that will meet the needs of the growing population and which the community will be proud to call its own.”
Mahlum's extensive client list includes Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, St. Mary's Hospital in Walla Walla, Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon, and Providence Newberg Hospital - a 39-bed community hospital in Newberg, Ore.
“We have enjoyed working with the Franciscan System over the past 20 years on various projects, including designing the Critical Care Tower addition that is under construction at the Franciscan organization's St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way,” said Robert Lober, Mahlum principal-in-charge.
Founded in 1938, Mahlum has offices in Seattle and Portland and has received more than 100 awards for design excellence.
Over the next several months, Mahlum representatives will work with Franciscan officials, community members and others to design the replacement Enumclaw hospital. Franciscan will also begin the process of selecting a general contractor in September.
“Our organization is committed to excellence and this commitment will be reflected in every step we take toward building the new hospital,” said Laure Nichols, the Franciscan organization's senior vice president for strategic planning and business development.
Earlier this year, Enumclaw Regional Hospital joined the Franciscan Health System following the hospital leadership's comprehensive review of the community's needs and the hospital's growth potential.
Enumclaw Regional Hospital, a critical access facility licensed for 38 beds, has served Enumclaw, Buckley, Black Diamond, Carbonado, South Prairie, Orting and other communities in southeast King and northeast Pierce counties since 1949.
The new hospital, projected to cost approximately $40 million, will provide all the services that ERH now offers, and will feature the newest medical and diagnostic imaging equipment. Also, the new hospital will be large enough to accommodate additional and expanded services to meet the future needs of the community.
Mahlum Architects was chosen by a committee that, in addition to Lewis and Nichols, includes ERH board member Roy Brooks; Dr. Gene Trobaugh of the ERH medical staff; ERH Chief Operating Officer Dennis Popp; ERH Chief Nurse Officer Jeannie Matthews; and Mike Liepman, Franciscan's vice president for guest services and facilities.
Along with Enumclaw Regional Hospital, the private, non-profit Franciscan Health System includes St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood, St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way and St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor, which is slated to open in 2009.
Franciscan is affiliated with Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the largest non-profit health systems in the nation with 72 hospitals and other care facilities in 19 states.
