Title
A MOTION creating a planning process for a potential bond to support capital improvement at Harborview Medical Center.
Body
WHEREAS, The Harborview Medical Center was founded in 1877 as a six-bed county hospital in South Seattle, and
WHEREAS, the hospital relocated to its current location in 1931, and
WHEREAS, the hospital now has four hundred and thirteen beds, seven primary care clinics and forty-nine other specialty clinics, and
WHEREAS, the hospital provides over sixty thousand emergency visits and more than a quarter million clinic visits each year, and
WHEREAS, the hospital is maintained as a public hospital to provide healthcare to those groups of patients and programs that are determined to require priority treatment, and
WHEREAS, the hospital is owned by King County, overseen by the Harborview Medical Center Board of Trustees and operated by the University of Washington, and
WHEREAS, the hospital is the only level one adult and pediatric trauma center serving the states of Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, and the hospital provides specialized comprehensive emergency services to patients and serves as the disaster preparedness and control hospital for Seattle and King County, and
WHEREAS, the voters of King County have supported the hospital with a number of bond measures over the years, most recently in the year 2000 with a $243 million bond, and
WHEREAS, the medical center now needs additional capital funding to improve facilities, better serve the mission population and maintain modern seismic standards, and
WHEREAS, the mission of Harborview Medical Center is: to provide healthcare for the most vulnerable residents of King County; to provide and teach exemplary patient care; to provide care for a broad spectrum of patients from throughout the region; and to develop and maintain leading-edge centers of emphasis, and
WHEREAS, the following populations are given priority for care at Harborview: persons who are non-English-speaking poor, persons who are uninsured or underinsured, persons who experience domestic violence, persons who experience sexual assault, persons incarcerated in King County's jails, persons with mental illness, particularly those treated involuntarily, persons with substance abuse issues, persons with sexually transmitted diseases, persons who require specialized emergency care, persons who require trauma care and persons who require burn care;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The executive, in cooperation with the Harborview Medical Center Board of Trustees and the University of Washington, will convene a Harborview leadership group to identify hospital and community needs should a bond measure go forward. The group shall be appointed by the executive and confirmed by the county council and shall consist, at a minimum of the following members:
1. At least two representatives of the county executive;
2. At least two county councilmembers or designees;
3. Two members of the Harborview Medical Center Board of Trustees;
4. The Harborview Medical Center Executive Director;
5. The UW Medicine Chief Health System Officer or designee;
6. At least two representatives of labor unions representing employees at the Harborview Medical Center;
7. A representative of the First Hill community;
8. At least two representatives of the mission populations served by Harborview; and
9. The Harborview Medical Center Medical Director.
B. The Harborview leadership group is charged with making recommendations on the capital program to the Capital Planning Oversight Committee at Harborview. The recommendations then proceed to the Harborview Medical Center Board of Trustees, the county executive and the county council.
C. The recommendations shall address the clinical facility master plan needs of the hospital and include, at a minimum:
1. An evaluation of the size and scope of a potential bond effort;
2. Exploration of the possibility of private philanthropy that could be anticipated were such an effort to go forward;
3. An evaluation of inclusion of the needs of the department of public health;
4. An evaluation of housing needs of the mission population and how the bond could address those needs;
5. An evaluation of how the project could address the needs of those impacted by the Involuntary Treatment Act;
6. An evaluation of how best to address behavioral health needs;
7. Whether bond proceeds should be invested in public health facilities beyond the Harborview campus to better serve residents countywide; and
8. Whether bond funds for other public safety infrastructure needs should be included and, if so, for what needs.
D. The county will make resources available to the planning group, pending
appropriation, to fund studies, analyses and other needs to prepare the best set of recommendations.