A health services levy for Valley Medical Center will be on the ballot this November.
Valley’s Board of Commissioners have adopted resolution No. 1066, which seeks to “secure the health system’s ability to keep essential healthcare services local and accessible while retaining highly skilled staff who live in and are dedicated to serving the South King County community,” according to an announcement from the hospital Sept. 9.
The levy would cost certain property owners a maximum regular property levy rate of $0.75 per $1,000 of assessed property value within the Public Hospital District No. 1 boundary of King County. This rate is $0.46 more for every $1,000 that is currently being paid. An example from Valley’s Sept. 9 press release states that a $500,000 home would see an increase of $19 a month, or $228 a year.
“Remarkably, we have not asked voters for a levy lift in 20 years,” said Board of Commissioners Chair Carol Barber, a Kent resident. “On behalf of my colleagues on Valley’s publicly elected board, this request reflects our commitment to long-term fiscal stability and our determination to ensure that everyone in our community can access local, life-saving care.”
Valley reports that the levy, if passed, would provide an estimated $42 million annually and that it would support “essential healthcare services,” support the “viability of 24/7/365 hospital operations,” which would include labor and delivery, trauma and emergency care and intensive care, along with keeping local healthcare services accessible. Valley also says that the levy would help “build careers” as the hospital is a large employer in South King County.
The levy comes amid a tumultuous financial year for Valley Medical Center. In March, the hospital laid off 101 non-union employees following an abrupt end to the state’s Medicaid reimbursement program in January, followed by the closing of several healthcare units and clinics (along with consolidations of two clinics) throughout South King County in mid-May.
The state’s Medicaid, or Apple Health, was then re-instated in late May, but by July, data from the National Academy for State Health Policy showed that hospitals throughout Washington state were expected to lose at least $662 million a year in Medicaid revenue because the federal “megabill” — which Rep. Adam Smith of the 9th Congressional District called a “cruel and calculated attack on working families” — was signed into law. According to the data, Valley is projected to lose $23,446,544 a year due to federal cuts to Medicaid.
The last hospital levy was in a 2005 special election, which passed with 54 percent of the vote.
Valley also announced that they will host three virtual community forums: two on Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., and one on Oct. 15 at 11 a.m. For more information, visit valleymed.org/prop1.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
