The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital hopes to soon affiliate Overlake Hospital. With Overlake assuming the day to day operations of the Hospital, there's a once in a lifetime opportunity for the Hospital District support the Valley's public health infrastructure going forward.
For example, the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District can continue to support Carnation and Mt. Si Senior Centers, Encompass, the Snoqualmie Community Network, the local schools, food banks, and many other organizations that help make the Valley the great place it is to work, live and play.
The Board of Commissioners are now faced with a decision. They can do nothing, and offer neither leadership nor funding for Public Health initiatives throughout the Valley. Or, they chose the “out of the box” solution called "The Verdant Model" chosen by Stephens Hospital when it affiliated with Swedish. http://bit.ly/2rNsSBp . Under this model , Verdant is able to provide significant grants and funding to dozens of local health related initiatives every year for as far into the future as you can see.
For a list of programs that Verdant Health currently supports, see below.
As a former Executive Director of the Hospital Foundation -- as well as a grateful family member of a former patient -- I’ve attended and videotaped Board meeting for the past seven years. In early 2016, I recorded Ben Lindekugel, Executive Director of the AWPHD (Association of Public Hospital Districts), as he facilitated a strategic planning retreat for the SVHD Board of Commissioners. Here’s a link to a ten-minute excerpt where he describes the PHD#2 Verdant Health model ... http://bit.ly/svhforum-vm-yt .
Could this model be right for the Snoqualmie Valley? Is it something you’d like to see considered? If so, then you’ll want to be sure to make your views known.
If ever there was a time to become informed, to get involved and to participate, it is now.
~Scott Scowcroft, SVH Forum