We've previously covered the Hospital's opposition to Swedish's expansion of inpatient care on the Eastside. Now available and fascinating to read is the Hospital's own letter to the Department of Health objecting to the addition of any pediatric beds at the Swedish facility. In May 2005, two years before CHRMC proposed adding 350 beds to its site, the former CEO of CHRMC wrote the following:
Huh? Remember, Issaquah's population just grew 26% in one year alone (Seattle Times). Perhaps the the Hospital should reconsider adding beds where the kids are if bed need projections have changed so dramatically?“Children’s is strongly opposed to Swedish’s proposal to establish a dedicated 8 bed inpatient pediatric unit. All available data suggests that the demand does not exist for such a unit, and that rates for inpatient pediatric care continue to decline within the service area...
The need for Swedish’s pediatric beds is essentially nonexistent."
