UW News

March 29, 2002

Management Agreement Approved for Harborview Bond Project

Seattle — The University of Washington Board of Regents unanimously approved a project management agreement authorizing UW Capital Projects Office to serve as project manager of the $193 million voter approved bond project to finance earthquake stabilization and bed expansion at Harborview Medical Center. Harborview is owned by King County, managed by the University of Washington and serves patients from Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho.

“The Regents felt this was a very collaborative approach to managing this important project,” said Johnese Spisso, Harborview’s chief operating officer. “Our next steps are to launch our project design and programming phase.”

In September 2000, King County voters passed a bond to fund in part a project to seismically stabilize the medical center, replace unsafe buildings and add critically needed beds to the medical center. As the region’s only Level I adult and pediatric trauma center, Harborview also plays a critical role in coordinating medical care and response throughout King County in the event of a major disaster.

The architectural firm of NBBJ was selected as the primary architect to lead the design for the project. NBBJ has designed facilities for many academic medical centers across the country, including Cleveland Clinic foundation, Cleveland, Ohio; Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York City; Duke University medical Center, Durham, N.C., Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, Ca; and the University of Washington Medical Center, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Harborview.