This morning was the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new medical building at the Swedish Ballard campus.
Doctors, board members and Seattle City Councilwoman Sally Clark all participated in the event which kicks off the project which is expected to be completed next year. “Swedish has been helping serve the health-care needs of the Greater Ballard community for many years,” said Rayburn Lewis, M.D., executive director and medical director of Swedish/Ballard.
The first floor of the new 90,000 square foot building will be a new emergency department. A new imaging center will be on the second floor with Swedish Physicians family practice on the third floor. The top two floors will be office space for specialty physicians.
Ribbon cutting for the new facility is expected to take place next fall.
Very good indeed. Welcome to the hood!
Let the kvetching about the traffic begin…
Did they clean up the graffiti on the front of the street side of those banners behind the photo op?
The banners were a welcome improvement till they got tagged
Woo hoo, Swedish!
I have one question, though. Who has to clean up the piles of dirt they use for these photo ops?
In other Swedish news, Swedish has started their own OB/GYN group at the Ballard campus last month. Two doctors are already hired and they hope to have 5 docs in all. http://www.swedish.org/body.cfm?id=3248&fr=true They share an office with and work together with the Swedish Midwives http://www.swedish.org/body.cfm?id=1938 whose practice is growing like crazy. They just hired their 5th midwife, who will start in October. Both practices will be moving to the new complex when it opens.
Ok, but that is the area directly in front of the Polyclinic where I go to the doctor. Is that building staying? Doesn't seem like there would enough room for a whole other building there… I was just there a couple of weeks ago, it seems like they would have mentioned it.
It's not going where the photo was taken. It's going directly west of the existing office building – between there and Tallman.
Lars, they used to have an ICU, a great Rehab unit and maternity wards; I have a lot of friends who were born there! I'm thrilled, but justs wish that they would bring back the ICU.
How many Swedes does it take to shovel a pile of dirt?
The Ballard Plaza building will supposedly be torn down once the new building is up and operating. From what I understand that site will then be used to build a new hospital or expand the existing hospital. The banners are gone. Now there is some strange mural on the cement header for the plaza that looks like either cartoon bowling pins or deformed cacti.
That's great news! I had my daughter with the midwives and they were amazing. Highly recommend.
Apparently all of them! ;-)
Oh I am so tempted to re-caption that photo!
Swedish opens new 'Express Burial Facility' for budget-conscious clients. “If all else fails,” said a board member, “we've got you covered!” Contracts will be available to all emergency care patients.
Swedish follows the local trend of offering “post treatment services” pioneered by Harborview's “You plug 'em, We plant 'em” Interment Center.
Harborview's marketing executives based the program on the financially successful but litigiously challenged “Ajax Artificial Limb and Landmine Company.” “The idea is to cross-leverage each profit center against the other.”
Evergreen Washelli is rumored to be exploring the feasibility of adding an “End of Life Care Facility” to it's underutilized North Seattle property.
**Sorry. Couldn't help it. Long day.**
Per Hilda: “The Ballard Plaza building will supposedly be torn down once the new building is up and operating. From what I understand that site will then be used to build a new hospital or expand the existing hospital.”
I don't find that the least bit funny. The old Medical Plaza building is quite ugly, but the hospital sold it years ago. The new MOB looks like it will be lovely.
Looks like a nice building
swedish repurchased the medical plaza building a while back & will evict all the tenants not associated with the hospital once they begin work on the plaza building. this means most of the doctors and the pharmacy currently located in the plaza building will be forced to relocate in the near future. also swedish is taking away the only parking available to the general public while the new building is being built. this will cause a serious problem for the many seniors who use the clinics in the building and get there via access bus & taxi.
The banners that were tagged were taken down and replaced with new ones. Cross your fingers that the taggers leave these alone!