Children's Hospital and Medical Center is located near the intersection of Sand Point Way and NE 45th Street in

Seattle. It is a widely recognized regional center for pediatric care, research and education.

Upcoming Children’s Advisory Committee Meetings:
Neighbors are encouraged to attend CAC meetings, and public comment is welcome at them.

April 15 (Tues.) 6:30 p.m. @ Talaris

May 6 (Tues.) time and location TBD

May 20 (Tues.) 6 p.m. @ CHRMC

June 3 (Tues.) time and location T.B.D.

June 10 (Tues.) 6:30 p.m. @ Talaris

CAC continues discussion on the preliminary draft Environmental Impact Statement. Take this opportunity to learn more about the impacts of Children’s proposed massive expansion.

Watch for updates at these websites:
www.laurelhurstcc.com and
www.childrensaction.com.

Location: Talaris, Cedar Room,
4000 NE 41st St.

From the March 2008 Laurelhurst Letter

Legislature Paves Way for Demolition of Laurelon Terrace

SHB 3071 permits a vote of 80 percent of Laurelon owners to terminate their 136-unit Laurelon Terrace garden condominium. Prior to passage of the bill, 100 percent agreement was required. Children’s Hospital has made an offer to purchase the property. Their offer to owners – nearly three-times market value – is contingent on multiple terms including approval of Children’s proposed Major Institution Master Plan. A sale will result in the loss of 21 percent of the moderate income housing in the Laurelhurst/Sand Point area. 

From the February 2008 Laurelhurst Letter:

Children’s Acquires Neighborhood Properties Valuing More Than $9.4 Million in Eight Months

The information, researched by LCC’s land-use consultant Carol Eychaner, reflects King County records pertaining to property acquisitions near Children’s Laurelhurst Campus as of January 24, 2008.

   CHRMC has purchased five single-family houses around the perimeter of its campus. All purchases were made since June 2007. The total cost of these acquisitions is more than $4.1 million.

   CHRMC has purchased 20 units in Laurelon Terrace, representing 15.2% of the total ownership. All purchases were made since October 2007. The total cost of the Laurelon Terrace acquisitions is more than $5.3 million.

   The total acquisition cost of the single-family and Laurelon Terrace properties, since June 2007, is $9.4+ million.

Downtown Property Acquisitions

In three separate transactions, CHRMC acquired two adjacent city blocks in the underdeveloped, Denny Triangle urban center (downtown) – one full block plus all except for the corner parcels of another block. The acquisitions were an 11-story biotech building with lab space (October 2006), a surface parking lot with a small, one-story retail building (May 2007), and a 7-story building (December 2007)

The underlying zoning of the two blocks is DMC 340/290-400 (340’ height limit). Development of these properties would more than fulfill Children’s long-term goal for a research center with a total of 1 million gross square feet, or 600,000 net square feet. The total acquisition cost of the downtown properties is approximately $188.5 million. 

How Many Beds? An Independent Analysis

Using Washington state’s standard methodology for calculating hospital’s
bed needs, Field Associates, specialists in healthcare and hospital planning, prepared “Study of Bed Projections for Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Based on Department of Health 12-Step Method.” This independent study on Children’s need for beds, reported findings quite different from those proposed by Children’s.

Two of the most surprising findings are:

“CHRMC proposes ten times more new capacity than this study finds is warranted through application of the Department [of Health]’s method.”

“In Seattle, Swedish Hospital’s inpatient pediatric services now care for more King County children than does CHRMC.”

Further excerpts from the study:

“Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center (CHRMC) is proposing ... approximately 350 new inpatient beds. ... Based on the Department’s published method of distributing hospital beds across the state, this study finds no support for the addition of inpatient beds to CHRMC’s current capacity of 250 beds until after the the year 2015. A small increase in beds – up to 40 – may be warranted by the year 2026. (This is at the very end of CHRMC’s 15- to 20-year master plan planning horizon).

Under the Department of Health’s projection method and using the data currently available, CHRMC’s addition of any more than 40 pediatric inpatient beds before 2026 would create an oversupply of such beds in Washington. The CHRMC proposal to add 350 beds would create an imbalance in the distribution of hospital beds among the institutions that provide inpatient pediatric care for Washington’s children. ...

In light of such an oversupply... the CHRMC Master Plan can be expected to have unwanted impacts on the financial and program viability of other hospitals and to unnecessarily increase the cost of health care both locally and in the state. ...”

A January 14, 2008, Seattle PI editorial cast doubt on the hospital’s projected need to expand and raised questions about the wisdom of building heights that are only allowed in urban centers. The piece concluded that the hospital should be working with the Laurelhurst community to resolve differences.  

Press Articles and Neighborhood Groups regarding the proposed Children's Expansion:

Children's Action Coalition - a newly formed community coalition that "encourages Children's to grow in a manner compatible with family-friendly neighborhoods".  They support an "expansion of first-class care throughout Children's state-wide service area while discouraging further concentration of services at a single, congested site."

Children's Hospital

• CHMC's Master Plan Website
• Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center web site
• DCLU Report on helicopter landings - July 1992

From the Laurelhurst Letter:

• The Issue of Bed Need and a Substantially Reduced Development Alternative for the CHRMC Campus - Oct 2007
• Neighbors Crowd Meeting to Unite for Alternative to Children's Towering Plans - Oct 2007
• "240 Event" Creates an Impression - Oct 2007
• Children’s Plans “Tower” Over Neighborhood, Sept 2007

• Children’s To Replace Trees at Magnuson, Sept 2007

• Hospital CEO to step down - December 2004
• New patient-care wing close to completion - Oct/Nov, 2003
• Hospital continues to review helicopter landings - July, 2002
• Details sought on new hospital wing - April/May, 2002

• Hospital details next stage of development - February, 2002
• Charity unveils plan to expand housing for sick children - January, 2002
• Around the neighborhood: Cookies, playgrounds, and stolen cars - September, 2001
• Construction worker dies after tree falls on crane - July, 2001

Past Construction Updates

• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 10/10/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 10/03/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 09/05/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 08/08/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin -08/01/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 07/11/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 06/06/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 04/04/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 03/14/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 02/14/05
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 06/07/04
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 05/03/04
• Ambulatory Care Building Progress Bulletin - 3/29/04
• Patient Care Building Progress Bulletin - 01/05/04
• Patient Care Building Progress Bulletin - 12/8/03
• Special Sidewalk Bulletin 10/27/03
• Community Bulletin - 11/10/03

Community Issues

• Letter to Children's Community Affairs regarding traffic light installation - 08/11/04