The sale of the former Astria Regional Medical Center in Yakima is complete, and construction of an assisted living facility and other medical services could begin soon.<\/p>\n
Chris Waddle, one of two managing partners with Hogback Development, said his company completed the sale of the vacant hospital building to Trouv\u00e9s Health Care Corp. last week.<\/p>\n
It means the Tacoma-based health care company can begin preparing the building for St. Elizabeth\u2019s, a 115-bed facility that will provide long-term care to individuals with complex health care needs or behavioral health conditions, said Edie Dibble, the Trouv\u00e9s COO.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe facility will specialize in serving residents experiencing memory loss or mental health challenges,\u201d Dibble wrote in an email to the Yakima Herald-Republic.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus is on creating a secure and enriching environment where residents can thrive through meaningful daily activities, compassionate care, and spaces designed for comfort, dignity, and connection,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Although Dibble, who will serve as CEO of St. Elizabeth\u2019s, did not have an opening date for the Yakima facility, she estimated more than 300 local jobs would be created. Construction will begin \u201cas soon as possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that the sale of the property is complete, we are excited to move forward with bringing this Yakima Trouv\u00e9s Health Care property to life,\u201d she wrote in an email. \u201cWe are proud to contribute to the local economy while building a team dedicated to delivering exceptional care.\u201d<\/p>\n
History of hospital<\/p>\n
The Sisters of Providence religious order opened the 13-bed St. Elizabeth Hospital<\/a> in a house at the corner of Naches and Yakima avenues in 1891. The site at 110 S. Ninth Ave. that was purchased last week by\u00a0Trouv\u00e9s was the third location for St. Elizabeth Hospital. The hospital there opened on Feb. 1, 1914.<\/p>\n The Ninth Avenue site continued to expand, with additions in 1934, 1946, 1963 and 1992. The first coronary care unit in the state was established there in 1967. In 1986, St. Elizabeth became the first hospital in the state to implant a pacemaker that could adjust the user\u2019s heart rate based on activity level.<\/p>\n In 1994, the hospital was renamed Providence Yakima Medical Center. Health Management Associates bought it in 2003 and renamed it Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center.<\/p>\n The hospital and Toppenish Community Hospital were sold to Sunnyside Community Hospital in 2017, which then formed Astria Health and renamed the hospital Astria Regional Medical Center.<\/p>\n Astria Health closed the 214-bed hospital<\/a> in January 2020 amid bankruptcy proceedings, with the organization stating it had lost more than $40 million since buying it in August 2017. At the time of its closure, Astria Regional employed 463 people.<\/p>\n Hogback Development bought the entire Astria campus in December 2020 and has maintained the vacant 290,000-square-foot hospital for more than five years, Waddle said.<\/p>\n An adjacent 30,000-square-foot building, the former St. Elizabeth Hospital school along West Chestnut Avenue, was donated by Hogback to the YWCA for use as a new domestic violence emergency shelter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hogback redeveloped another building, along South 11th Avenue, into its Rainier Medical Office Building. That structure houses MultiCare Orthopedics Northwest and Ambulatory Surgical Center and Peak Retina among its 76,000 square feet of space, Waddle added.<\/p>\n He said Hogback has been negotiating with Trouv\u00e9s since January 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were our second serious interested party (in buying the building),\u201d Waddle told the Herald-Republic on Monday. \u201cMultiCare took a pretty hard stab at it a couple years ago, when they fully entered the market, but it was just not the right timing for them.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lull, and then Trouv\u00e9s came knocking. They approached us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Future plans<\/p>\n Trouv\u00e9s plans to use roughly 100,000 square feet of the building to develop its 115-bed assisted living facility, the company\u2019s Dibble told the Herald-Republic.<\/p>\n \u201cAn additional 200,000 square feet will be made available to other medical providers, helping to expand access to essential healthcare services in the community,\u201d she wrote in an email. \u201cCurrent areas of interest include emergency medicine, nuclear medicine, and a Certified Nurse Assistant school \u2014 further strengthening the region\u2019s healthcare workforce and resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Job opportunities at the assisted living facility will include health care providers, mental health clinicians, nursing staff, security personnel, culinary teams and administrative professionals, Dibble said.<\/p>\n Behavioral health<\/p>\n