When will MultiCare build the new patient tower in Puyallup? The council asked
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- MultiCare Good Samaritan advances master plan to add patient tower.
- Puyallup council plans public hearing for development agreement in 2026.
- MultiCare hopes to start Phase 1A, including parking and utilities, in 2026.
MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital’s new master plan is now one step closer to being approved – and with it, a patient care tower that will bring 200 new beds.
At its Dec. 2 meeting, the Puyallup City Council heard a presentation on the master plan, which encompasses the company’s vision for the next 20 years of development at the Puyallup hospital. The plan includes four phases over those 20 years.
Since this was an informational presentation, the council did not take any concrete action on Dec. 2. Chris Beale, the city’s senior planner told the council that the next step is to hold a public hearing for the development agreement, which they are aiming to hold in the first quarter of 2026.
After the public hearing, the council would have to approve the development agreement, and then Beale said MultiCare aims to start permitting and construction on the first phase of the master plan.
In the master plan, MultiCare said the proposed projects – including the tower – aim to increase capacity at the hospital, which has the fourth-busiest emergency department per capita in the U.S.
The council unanimously approved a first reading of the hospital’s new master plan on June 10, which includes the tower. In documents given to the city council, MultiCare estimated the total cost of the tower project would be around $431 million.
The city approved MultiCare’s last master plan in 2007, which allowed them to build the 82-bed Dally Tower in 2011. In 2018, they added 80 more beds.
What are the phases of the master plan?
Beale said the master plan consists of four phases over 20 years. The first phase – which has been broken down into three subphases, includes the following:
- 1A: The new patient care tower, a new parking structure on the campus to accommodate the new patient care tower, and an expansion of the utility building on the west side of the campus.
- 1B: A shell build out on the new patient care tower – which will involve adding 40 extra beds.
- 1C: Expanding the Dally Tower emergency department.
The second phase includes building a new medical office building on the east side of the campus, along with another parking structure. During the third phase, MultiCare would construct a second medical office building, also on the east side of the campus.
In the fourth and final phase, MultiCare would construct a four- to five-story central support tower by the Dally Tower and future patient care tower. The fourth phase also includes expanding 3rd Street on the west side of the Dally Tower.
What will the new patient care tower include?
Beale said the new patient care tower will bring in 160 new, licensed inpatient beds after MultiCare completes the first phase.
The Dally Tower currently includes 360 beds, Beale said, and 30 observation beds will be transferred from the Dally Tower to the new patient care tower – bringing the total to 190.
When MultiCare wraps up the second phase of the hospital master plan, there will be 40 extra beds in the patient care tower, with a final total of 230.
Previously, MultiCare’s plans for the new patient tower sparked concerns about how the company plans to staff the extra beds. In documents provided to the city, MultiCare said they estimate the new patient tower could cause employment at the hospital to go from 2,351 full-time employees to 2,910 full-time employees – a 559-person increase.
“When the new patient care tower is complete, MultiCare will have 535 licensed acute care beds, making it the hospital with the fifth most acute care beds in Washington state,” the documents MultiCare provided to the city said.
When MultiCare first presented the master plan at the city’s April 15 study session, council members asked whether the patient care tower would trigger more ambulance trips to the hospital. In documents provided to the city, MultiCare said it wouldn’t.
“While the patient care tower adds inpatient bed capacity for patients that need to be admitted to the hospital, it will not increase the number of emergency vehicle trips to the hospital,” MultiCare wrote in the documents. “Emergency vehicle trips are generally based on factors that are external to the hospital, such as the size of the population.”
When will work start on the new patient tower?
Scott Thompson, spokesperson for MultiCare, previously told The News Tribune that construction was expected to start in August 2025. The News Tribune followed up this month to get a new estimate on when construction might start. Thompson did not include a new estimate for construction, but did say they are expecting a first reading of the draft development agreement in the first quarter of 2026.
“Tuesday’s presentation related to a Development Agreement that has been negotiated between the City of Puyallup and MultiCare. The agreement must be approved by the City Council,” Thompson wrote in an email to The News Tribune. “The agreement is process-oriented, and will guide our relationship with the city as we work through the Good Samaritan Master Plan over the next 20 years. It does not alter the substance of the Master Plan — merely helps to set our working parameters to make things more efficient in years to come. We anticipate that the draft agreement will have a first reading at council in Q1 2026.”
Mayor Jim Kastama asked Beale to give a timeline for each phase Tuesday, and Beale said the master plan does not include exact dates.
“Can you walk us through, step-by-step, on the buildings by the letter that’s used to designate them, and identify them, and say, ‘This will start construction at this year, approximately’?” Kastama asked. “[Can you] walk us through this development, time-wise, please?”
“I can’t identify exact years because the master plan gives a range of years, obviously, gives flexibility to MultiCare,” Beale responded.
Beale then described the projects that are expected in the first phase, and Kastama interrupted him again.
“Excuse me, will that be next year, will it break ground?” Kastama asked.
“We don’t know yet,” Beale replied.
“OK, but potentially what, two years?”
“I think that’s probably fair,” Beale said.
Beale also said during the presentation that the certificate of need from the Department of Health for the new patient care tower has been extended. He said this is because MultiCare is in the middle of a kitchen remodel, with the kitchen being split between the Dally Tower and the new tower because the buildings will be “joined together.”
He then said that MultiCare is hoping to start work on Phase 1A – which includes the tower, the parking garage and an expansion of the utility building – in 2026.
What was the council’s response?
While the council didn’t vote at this meeting, the council members generally seemed to be supportive. Kastama asked how long it would take to complete all four phases, and when Beale said it would take 20 years, Kastama called it “excellent” and said completing this much work in 20 years would be going fast.
Julie Door, a council member who represents District 3, thanked Beale for working with Central Pierce Fire & Rescue to ensure the new master plan “keeps our public safety people moving.”
“I have an email today from [CPFR] and they are genuinely thrilled that their plan has survived intact, they believe it will make a massive impact on efficiency and safety of patient transfer into the Good Sam emergency department,” Door said.
Dean Johnson, who represents District 2, called the project “the South Sound equivalent of Harborview” and said he plans to support this master plan because of the benefits it will bring to Puyallup.
“[It’s millions of] dollars that’s going to be happening right in our city of investment in medical care for our constituent base and those who are using our hospital,” Johnson said. “Not to count the hundreds and hundreds of jobs – and good-paying jobs – that will be coming to our city, which will stimulate housing and other things and goods and services and all the things our city depends on.”
News Tribune archives contributed to this story.
