Mirror staff reports:
St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, which is part of the non-profit, faith-based Franciscan Health System, is commemorating its 25th anniversary this month.
The hospital opened on May 6, 1987. Through its comprehensive inpatient and outpatient medical services and multiple community outreach programs, the hospital is essential to the quality of life in Federal Way and South King County.
St. Francis was the first, and remains the only, hospital in the city of 89,300 residents. The hospital had about 350 employees when it first opened. Now with more than 1,000 employees, the acute-care facility is one of the largest employers in Federal Way.
The hospital was originally licensed for 110 beds by the Washington State Department of Health. The number of licensed beds has since increased to 134 in order to meet the needs of the growing community.
During its most recent fiscal year (July 2010-June 2011), St. Francis Hospital and its physicians, nurses and other staff:
• Responded to 49,720 patient visits in the 24-hour emergency department
• Admitted 9,921 patients for in-hospital care that lasted overnight or longer
• Received 54,273 patient visits for a range of outpatient services
• Welcomed 1,162 newborns at the Family Birth Center (by comparison, about 600 babies were born at St. Francis during the hospital’s first year of business)
The hospital is located on 9th Avenue South on a 22-acre property off South 348th Street. Construction of the hospital began in August 1985.
Other milestones over the years at the hospital:
• The St. Francis Outpatient Center opened in January 2002. The 62,500-square-foot facility includes same-day surgery, radiation oncology, diagnostic imaging, physical, speech and occupational therapies, and other services.
• The 30-bed Critical Care Unit, and the remodeled Emergency Department, opened in September 2008. The Critical Care Unit includes 14 private rooms for medically critical patients who need intensive monitoring by specially trained caregivers, and 16 private progressive-care rooms for patients that require a higher level of monitoring than routinely provided in medical and surgical units.
• In 2009, the hospital’s nurses and other front-line caregivers were selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to participate in a national initiative designed to improve quality of care in medical and surgical units across the U.S.
• St. Francis was named one of the best hospitals for gynecological care in the Seattle-Tacoma market by U.S. News and World Report magazine in 2011.
• The Women’s Health and Breast Center at St. Francis Hospital is designated as a Certified Quality Breast Center of Excellence by the National Consortium of Breast Centers.
