KCPHD #2 Prop. 1 2025

EvergreenHealth is immensely proud to share that our community has approved Proposition 1, EvergreenHealth's Levy Lid Lift measure. This show of support affirms our community's belief in our purpose and in the high-quality, safe, compassionate care our providers and staff deliver every day.

What Are We Doing So Far With Additional Levy Funds?

EvergreenHealth is a public hospital district. As a community-owned hospital system, we are here not only to provide the most advanced care, technology and techniques, but also to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our growing and ever-changing Eastside community. Being a public hospital district means that we are accountable to make sound investments in infrastructure, develop new services, and most importantly, ensure we have enough beds and staff to give our Eastside community the best possible care every day and for generations to come.

Thank you to our community for participating in the election and casting your vote for the future of health care on the Eastside.

What Are We Doing So Far With Additional Levy Funds?

Since our community approved the increase in funds, EvergreenHealth has been working tirelessly to deliver on the promises we made ahead of the vote last August. Here are some of those promises and examples of how we are keeping them thanks to your support:

1. Investing in more providers: EvergreenHealth continues to aggressively seek new doctors, nurses and support staff to increase access to our services and enhance the services we provide. Increased funding has already helped us hire additional primary care providers so that you can find an appointment sooner, with more expected to join our team throughout 2026. Additionally, EvergreenHealth is investing more in telehealth capabilities so that you can get the care you need when and where you want.
2. Expanding behavioral health services: EvergreenHealth's Behavioral Health Services benefit from community funds, providing comprehensive treatment at two locations in Canyon Park and Kenmore through a team of social workers, therapists and psychiatrists. With support from levy funds, EvergreenHealth Behavioral Health Services is expanding to a third location in Kirkland and adding additional staff to meet our community's needs. Levy funds are also supporting Kirkland Fire Department's Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) unit, which is an alternative EMS response and referral strategy. The MIH unit improves integration between first responders, community members in need and community-based services, including behavioral health services.
3. Continuing support for our community's youth: EvergreenHealth reinvests our community's funds each year into the health and well-being of our community's young students. Levy funds and EvergreenHealth specialists help Northshore School District provide students with access to mental health counselors. Additionally, EvergreenHealth's Youth Mental Health program provides resources to community members to help them recognize signs and symptoms of a mental health crisis and how they can most effectively help.
4. Health and wellness programs for seniors: Community funds allow us to provide health and wellness programs to older adults in the local community through the Northshore Senior Center (NSC) and the Adult Day Health Center. The funding includes seven evidence-based programs such as NSC's Enhance® Wellness program, designed to decrease the length of participants' hospital stays, alleviate symptoms of mood disorders and encourage older adults to maintain control of their lives through a participant-centered approach. Additionally, the community-funded NSC Adult Day Health program offers virtual health and wellness classes to encourage movement, fine motor skills, strengthening and other mental and physical rehabilitation services.

Ahead of our continued service expansions and increased access, EvergreenHealth is also investing in space and multiple construction projects. These projects look to enhance our technological capabilities and ensure we have the room to grow alongside our community.

1. EvergreenHealth Plaza: EvergreenHealth is purchasing the EvergreenHealth Plaza building, which will give us the flexibility to grow our clinic space near our hospital campus and provide the hospital district an additional revenue source through the leasing of unused space to other community providers. In the next 5 years, it is anticipated that EvergreenHealth providers could occupy 40% of the building, significantly expanding access to our services.
2. Silver Tower Expansion and Renovation: EvergreenHealth is also investing in optimizing our current space by expanding operating rooms and procedural capacity within the Silver Tower on our Kirkland hospital campus. This expansion on the second floor of the Silver Tower will support forecasted growth in surgery with eight new operating rooms, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology and neurovascular services, and the development of electrophysiology (EP) services. In addition to increased capacity and access for patients, these renovations will modernize and update our operating rooms to meet best practices and allow for greater integration of technology, robotics, and surgical lasers. This project also includes renovations in our Purple area to create four larger c-section suites with integrated infant stabilization spaces, not only increasing access in labor and delivery but also significantly improving patient safety.
3. Cardiology Care Renovation: The EvergreenHealth Construction and Design team is currently redesigning Cardiology Care to add nearly 20 cardiac exam rooms, three resting echocardiogram rooms, a new cardiac CT room with a new CT machine, additional support space and much more. This proactive investment will, as with all of our investments, improve patient access as well as expand our capabilities to treat a broader range of conditions and deliver increasingly advanced care.
4. Cath Lab Remodel & Digestive Care Expansion: EvergreenHealth Is planning the renovation of our Cath Lab in the Blue area of our Kirkland campus to accommodate five procedural rooms for our Digestive Care providers along with recover and support space. This project will help meet the growing demand for gastrointestinal services in our community, which currently has very limited access to digestive care.

EvergreenHealth's mission is to ensure that services are available to our community and that we continue to grow to meet our district's needs. That's why this is only the beginning of the important changes we have planned thanks to the increase in levy funds. We will continue to update this webpage with the latest community benefits your levy dollars are helping us provide.

Levy Lid Lift 2025

A Levy Lid Lift allows a voter-approved increase in the property tax levy with funds going toward essential maintenance and operations. The current EvergreenHealth property tax levy on our district residents is $0.14 for every $1,000 of assessed property value, which is included in residents' property tax.

As a public hospital district serving the health, wellness and emergency medical needs of more than 1 million residents on the Eastside, EvergreenHealth receives a portion of our budget in taxpayer funding, similar to a school district or fire district.

Increasing Levy Funds

This was the first Levy Lid Lift in EvergreenHealth's history. EvergreenHealth opened in 1972 with 76 beds and serving 22,000 residents.

Today, in KCPHD#2 alone, we serve a population 15 times larger than when we first opened, with nearly 354 beds, two emergency departments, seven urgent care locations plus virtual urgent care, 12 primary care practices, more than 40 specialty care practices, home health and hospice services, and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Our community's population continues to grow and, therefore, the needs of our patients continue to increase and become more complex, requiring additional resources and greater access to EvergreenHealth's critical services.