Bring comments about Swedish Medical Center campus to Nov. 3 hearing
October 27, 2009
By Warren Kagarise
NEW — 6 a.m. Oct. 27, 2009
Planners said the Swedish Medical Center campus under construction in the Issaquah Highlands would serve as a community hub, with a lush courtyard and free Wi-Fi to lure visitors. City and project planners unveiled new details Oct. 20 about the hospital, the first major employer to take root in the highlands.
The site development permit for the project went before the Urban Village Development Commission last week. Bring questions about the project to a Nov. 3 public hearing, when commissioners will meet again to discuss the development permit. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall South, 135 E. Sunset Way.
Commissioners raised questions about how ambulances would reach the site and how years of construction would affect highlands residents. The campus, scheduled to open in phases in 2011 and 2012, will become the first new hospital in King County to open in 25 years.
Architect James Walker said the hospital design incorporates visual cues from grasses and trees at the highlands site. A soaring atrium capped with a sloped roof will link the components and serve as the main entryway.
“We see it as a very dramatic space and very much a unifying kind of nexus to the whole project, where both the hospital looks into this space and the medical office building,” Walker said.
Plans illustrate the atrium, lined with shops and services, such as a daycare center, as a gathering place for hospital workers, patients and visitors.
Dr. John Milne, a member of the Urban Village Development Commission, had to recuse himself from the Oct. 20 and Nov. 3 meetings.
Milne is the medical director for strategic development at Swedish Medical Center and a physician at the existing Issaquah emergency room. Because he had recused himself, Milne was not allowed to attend the meeting.
Other commissioners are not allowed to discuss the hospital issue with Milne until the board reaches a decision.
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It appears that the Nov. 3rd meeting has been canceled – at least when I looked this morning (Wednesday) on the City of Issaquah web site.