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Evergreen Health CEO outlines financial pressures, service footprint and local clinic status
Summary
Dr. Torrey Palazzo of Evergreen Health updated the Sammamish City Council on the public hospital district’s service area, recent financial losses, charity care levels and the status of primary-care access near Sammamish following a clinic closure; he said levy revenue approved by voters this summer will begin in 2026.
Dr. Torrey Palazzo, CEO and superintendent of King County Public Hospital District No. 2 (Evergreen Health), briefed the Sammamish City Council on Tuesday about the hospital district’s service area, recent finances and plans to reassess local clinic access.
The presentation outlined Evergreen Health’s footprint — the hospital district covers part of Sammamish — and the systemwide financial pressures facing hospitals in Washington. “I am doctor Torrey Palazzo. I'm the superintendent, and CEO of King County Public Hospital District number 2, also known as Evergreen Health, also known as the community's, East Side, owned hospital,” Palazzo said. He told the council the district serves roughly 330,000 residents within the hospital district and that the broader service area from which most patients come is about a million residents.
Why it matters: Evergreen Health is one of the region’s remaining independent public hospital districts; changes to Medicaid funding and commercial payer contracts affect local access to primary, specialty and emergency care. Council members asked whether the system’s financial outlook would alter services available to Sammamish residents.
Palazzo…
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