From left to right: MultiCare Health System CEO Bill Robertson, Pacific Lutheran President Allan Bolton, and Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine Dean James Record before the announcement of the new partnership between MultiCare Health System, Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, and Pacific Lutheran University on Feb. 6
Representatives from Pacific Lutheran University, MultiCare, and Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine gathered Tuesday with community leaders to announce their shared vision for improving access to health care in unincorporated Pierce County and expanding health care education opportunities.
The collaboration, known as the Partnership for Health Innovation, will include the construction of a new ambulatory and outpatient MultiCare facility on the PLU campus. It would also place WSU medical students at the medical center so that they can train and provide care in central Pierce County, an area the group says is “a health care desert” amid a period of record shortages for health care professionals.
Spanning the decade from 2020 to 2030, it is estimated that medical settings will see a surge in demand for emergency services (5%), acute care (11%), and outpatient services (20%) as the 65-plus population continues to swell up to 6% in the next five years, according to a 2020 baseline report from the Comprehensive Hospital Abstract Reporting System.
“(We are) bringing WSU medical residents to our campus to live here; to have residencies at MultiCare facilities in Pierce County; and to produce more local doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, behavioral health specialists in this community to serve this community,” PLU President Allan Belton said in a media event preceding the public announcement.
WSU’s College of Medicine Dean Dr. Jim Record said that “seeking community partnerships that are innovative, collaborative, and mission aligned” is crucial.
“The partnership with PLU and MultiCare meets all these criteria,” he said. “Launching this new initiative will allow us to change the health care ecosystem and take an important step toward helping Pierce County residents access the equitable health care they need.”
Of the new facility — which will be funded by MultiCare and built on an earmarked 15 acres of what was previously a 45-acre campus golf course — MultiCare CEO Bill Robertson said the facility would serve close to 200,000 people in the Parkland-Spanaway community.
“MultiCare has been in this community since 1882. We're of this community; we consider this our home,” Robertson said. “This is a partnership that solves a whole set of challenges that we have in society, checks a lot of interesting boxes, and creates a foundation for what we think is a model that should be used elsewhere in the United States, in the state of Washington.”
Though planning and design for the new campus building has only just begun, the representatives from the three organizations say a groundbreaking on the southeast corner of the campus could occur as early as 2027, with a completion date to follow in one or two years. An estimate for the cost of construction is yet to be determined.
Services available through the new medical building are projected to be “clinical services that are typically consumed on an outpatient basis,” according to Robertson. This could include ambulatory surgery, primary care, specialty care, and behavioral health.
“We were just going to start with (these possible services) and then we'll add to that as we learn and as we grow to meet the community's needs,” Robertson said.
More information about the Partnership for Health Innovation can be found on the PLU website.