Big changes are coming to lower campus as Tacoma-based hospital MultiCare begins construction on its new medical facility. The facility, paid for by MultiCare, is being built through PLU’s partnership with both MultiCare and Washington State University (WSU).
Collectively, the organizations are calling it a “Partnership for Health Innovation.”
Students, staff, and community members alike had an opportunity to speak with some of the key individuals in this partnership on October 24th during the partnerships’ listening session. Hosted in a question-and-answer format, the goal of the listening session was to understand what the community expects, wants, and needs from the new MultiCare facility, which they are calling the MultiCare Medical Center at Pacific Lutheran University.
Tim Holmes, representative for MultiCare, told attendees the new facility is currently looking to offset and aid the demand placed on the Parkland emergency room, which “happens to be the busiest” hospital they oversee. The lease of 15 acres of the golf course on lower campus is being paid for by MultiCare “as part of [their] capital investments,” meaning this building comes at no cost to PLU students or staff. It will be approximately 60 to 80 thousand square feet, but the services it will provide are currently still being finalized.
The student population who seems the most likely to benefit from this program will be Doctor Nursing Practice students — according to a PLU nursing faculty representative, PLU has 68 DNP students, who are required to have a minimum of 750 clinical hours; the goal is for students to be able to rotate through getting those hours done at the new facility. Holmes expressed that he hopes there will be room for other healthcare majors (for example, Kinesiology) in the future.
As of the writing of this article, there is no clear answer as to what services students and staff will receive, if any, in the form of healthcare from the facility, though Holmes did say it was “part of the vision.” The current goal for community healthcare services that are projected to be provided at the facility include primary care, behavioral health outpatient care, and specialty healthcare.
A representative of the student environmentalist club GREAN asked multiple questions from those concerned about the environmental impact of the new building. One question PLU students had for Holmes was regarding protecting the walkability of lower campus, to which Holmes did not have an answer at the time. Additionally, there was no response when one community member expressed her hope that “[MultiCare] would let local tribes do a blessing” because the ground they’re building on “was a summer camp for the [indigenous youth] back in the day before we settled there.” Holmes could tell the community that they “are continuing to explore…the idea [in partnership with the local tribes] of what conserving portions of the lower campus will look like” going forward.
The Mast spoke with Studio Art major Ivan Wilson about his concerns regarding the new facility. “The first time I heard about it was through an email, but I didn’t pay attention to it,” Wilson says. He didn’t feel like PLU spread the word enough for students to actually take action against it, or voice their opinions. He thinks there are other options for PLU, even floating the idea that the gravel pit near South Hall could have been a better fit for the building. “A lot of people I’ve talked to are really devastated. It’s a huge community area for both events that PLU puts on, and the community. People use [the disc golf course] all the time. It’s one of the only recreational sports/areas in Parkland.” He urged students to “ask themselves critically whether they value a new health facility and a place to learn more than they value this very old piece of land that already has so many benefits for the community.”
One of the largest changes to come to PLU campus in decades, still shrouded in uncertainty, continues to fill the minds of our community as we wait for construction to start.
Students, staff, and community members can find answers to frequently asked questions on the PLU website by searching for the Partnership for Health Innovation. Some questions are ePass protected and require a PLU ID to access.
