Today, the University of Washington Board of Regents voted to approve UW Medicine’s request to combine UW Medical Center (UWMC) and Northwest Hospital & Medical Center (NWH) as one hospital with two campuses.
UW Medicine has a longstanding relationship with Northwest Hospital, which included Northwest Hospital becoming the seventh entity of UW Medicine in 2009. This past year, an evaluation team, led by six executive sponsors, assessed the benefits of combining the two hospitals. The team considered a variety of issues related to human resources, finances, clinical and administrative operations, facilities and governance and recommended moving forward.
The plan to combine the hospitals required approval from the NWH Board and the UW Medicine Board prior to today’s approval from the UW Board of Regents. With the Regents’ approval, Northwest Hospital will be moved under UW Medical Center’s hospital license, and the two campuses will be financially, clinically and administratively integrated. The projected target date for combining the hospitals under one license is January 1, 2020.
Please see letter and Q&A from UW Medicine leadership for more information.
