Overlake Medical Center and Snoqualmie Valley Hospital are expanding access to emergency care services

Bellevue, Wash. – Overlake Medical Center & Clinics announced effective today it will begin providing management services for Snoqualmie Valley Hospital’s emergency department. The collaboration, and long-standing relationship of the two organizations, will continue to benefit the needs of Snoqualmie and the surrounding communities.

“The motivation is really about providing our community members a broader access to services,” said Kimberly Witkop, MD, interim chief executive officer, chief medical officer at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital. “Being a smaller community hospital, we are able to offer core medical services, but for anything beyond those core services, we have to relocate patients. For us, it is such a natural transition to choose Overlake for the management of our emergency services.”

Emergency physicians who work at Overlake Medical Center’s emergency department will also work at the emergency department at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital. These doctors are all board certified in emergency medicine and employed by Puget Sound Physicians. Eric Shipley, MD, department chairperson of emergency services at Overlake, has been working at both facilities for many years. “The same electronic medical record system we use at the Overlake emergency department is now the system at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital. We will have access to all notes and labs, which will be tremendous in facilitating seamless patient care at either facility,” said Dr. Shipley.

Both organizations agree this collaboration will have a broad positive impact on emergency services, including stroke care, sepsis care and myocardial infarction care (heart attack). Snoqualmie Valley Hospital is a Level 5 trauma center and the only trauma center in Snoqualmie, Washington. Because of the facility’s location, Snoqualmie Valley often receives patients seeking care for injuries related to skiing/snowboarding and hiking along the I-90 corridor and at Snoqualmie Pass.

“I am excited for the citizens of Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie and North Bend. They need to know we have this fantastic facility that can provide emergency care 24/7. They should keep us in mind whenever an emergency arises,” Dr. Shipley explained.