October 21, 2022

MultiCare and Yakima Valley Memorial announce acquisition agreement

TACOMA, Wash. — MultiCare Health System and Yakima Valley Memorial today announced plans for Memorial to become a wholly owned subsidiary of MultiCare to help achieve MultiCare and Memorial’s shared goal of retaining and expanding local access to health care and improving the quality of care for Yakima Valley communities.

Under the terms of the agreement, MultiCare will invest in new programs; implement an integrated electronic health record; strengthen the hospital’s role as the leading health care hub in central Washington; and help provide a sustainable future for Yakima’s only hospital.

“Our relationship with Memorial began in 2021 when we partnered to expand oncology services in the Yakima Valley region,” said Bill Robertson, CEO of MultiCare. “This agreement is a natural evolution of that partnership and aligns with our organizations’ mutual commitment to keeping the care central Washington communities need in those communities.”

Memorial comprises a 226-bed hospital, primary care practices and specialty care services including cardiac care; cancer care through North Star Lodge; breast health at `Ohana Mammography Center; acute hospice and respite care at Cottage in the Meadow; pain management at Water’s Edge; the only level-3 NICU in central Washington; and advanced services for children with special health care needs at Children’s Village. The central Washington health system will become a part of MultiCare in early 2023 and its name will change to MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital at that time.

“Yakima Valley Memorial has provided quality patient care to the Yakima Valley for 72 years,” said Carole Peet, CEO of Memorial. “This agreement will strengthen our ability to provide robust primary and specialty care services to this community for decades to come. We are excited to join MultiCare and look forward to what our combined resources will offer the people of the Yakima Valley.”

Headquartered in Tacoma, MultiCare is a not-for-profit health care system that has been caring for Pacific Northwest communities since 1882. It is the largest locally governed health system in the state, and its network of care includes 12 hospitals and hundreds of clinics in both the Puget Sound and Inland Northwest regions.

Yakima Valley Memorial’s transition to MultiCare Yakima Memorial will be seamless for patients and staff. There should be no disruptions to care, and patients will continue to access services from the Memorial providers they know and trust.

This transaction is subject to routine regulatory approval as well as customary closing conditions.

About MultiCare

MultiCare is a not-for-profit health care organization with more than 20,000 team members, including employees, providers and volunteers. MultiCare has been caring for our community for well over a century, since the founding of Tacoma’s first hospital, and today is the largest community-based, locally governed health system in the state of Washington.

MultiCare’s comprehensive system of health includes numerous primary care, urgent care and specialty services — including MultiCare Indigo, Pulse Heart Institute and MultiCare Rockwood Clinic, the largest multispecialty clinic in the Inland Northwest region.

MultiCare’s network of care includes 12 hospitals:

• MultiCare Allenmore Hospital, Tacoma
• MultiCare Auburn Medical Center, Auburn
• MultiCare Capital Medical Center, Olympia
• MultiCare Covington Medical Center, Covington
• MultiCare Deaconess Hospital, Spokane
• MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital, Puyallup
• Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, Tacoma
• MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital, Tacoma
• MultiCare Valley Hospital, Spokane Valley
• MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital, Yakima
• Navos Behavioral Health Hospital, West Seattle
• Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital, Tacoma

About Yakima Valley Memorial

Yakima Valley Memorial is a nonprofit health care system with nearly 3,000 team members, and is the largest employer in Yakima County. Memorial has been providing quality patient care to the Yakima Valley for 72 years. Memorial’s network of care includes:

• A 226-bed acute-care hospital
• Five primary care clinics
• Specialty care services including:
  • Memorial Heart, Lung & Vascular
  • North Star Lodge cancer care
  • `Ohana Mammography Center
  • Cottage in the Meadow hospice and respite care
  • Water’s Edge pain management
  • The only level-3 NICU unit in Central Washington
  • Children’s Village — services for children with special health care needs
• The Memorial Foundation, a separate 501c(3) organization that raises funds for innovative health care programs in the Yakima Valley