EvergreenHealth is an independent, public hospital district established by local voters in 1968. Today, what was once Evergreen General Hospital is now a nationally recognized regional hospital system that serves more than one million residents across King and Snohomish counties and offers more than 70 clinical specialties, along with practices featuring specialized care, primary care and urgent care options throughout the region.
The Past The Roots of EvergreenHealth
In the late 1960s, our community came together to create a hospital centered on the health care needs of their friends and neighbors. In November 1967, about 80,000 residents voted to form the King County Public Hospital District, a new kind of hospital for this region.
A public hospital district functions similarly to a school or fire district. Local taxpayers in the district pay a supplemental property tax levy which makes up of a small portion of our budget to fund community-based health care services at the hospital. In turn, the King County Public Hospital District is accountable to the public and is governed by a locally elected Board of Commissioners.
The first Board of Commissioners were elected to govern the new hospital and on March 9, 1972, the King County Public Hospital District opened the doors to what would later become EvergreenHealth Hospital in Kirkland.
The ultimate test for the hospital came in early 2020, when EvergreenHealth became the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. EvergreenHealth was the first hospital in the United State to treat a local outbreak of the novel virus. EvergreenHealth’s exceptional response placed our hospital on the global stage and set the standard for emergency pandemic response for other hospitals nationwide.
The Present How We’re Serving Our Community
Over the years, the hospital has grown thoughtfully alongside the community and with the community’s support. EvergreenHealth evolved from a one-building, general hospital into a larger hospital system with facilities and clinics. EvergreenHealth has grown its presence throughout King and Snohomish counties to meet the health care needs of this growing community.
Best in the Pacific Northwest
Community support pays off. For the past six years, EvergreenHealth has ranked among the top 1% of hospitals in the country for superior patient outcomes and remains the only hospital in the Puget Sound region to earn this distinction. The hospital received similar recognition for excellence in specialty care, top marks for patient safety and is routinely voted as a top hospital in community surveys. In 2026, EvergreenHealth was designated a Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence, the highest global distinction for nursing excellence.
These achievements matter because they are a signal to the best and brightest in medicine that EvergreenHealth is a hospital that owns its values of compassionate care and clinical excellence.
The Future Where We’re Headed Together
EvergreenHealth has never lost sight of its roots and purpose as a community hospital. In 2025, EvergreenHealth went to voters for the first time since the hospital opened in 1972, asking for an increase to the rate on the property tax levy that supports the hospital.
Voters saw the value EvergreenHealth brings to their community and voted in support of the levy lid lift. Taxpayer dollars go toward strengthening community programs and helping EvergreenHealth expand services to meet the health care needs of this community, today and tomorrow, for generations to come.
All donations to EvergreenHealth Foundation go toward the hospital, giving local philanthropists a meaningful way to bring positive, transformative changes to the lives of their friends, family and neighbors.
