Kootenai Health
Kootenai Health provides a comprehensive range of medical services to patients in north Idaho, eastern Washington, Montana and the Inland Northwest at several facility locations. The main Kootenai Health campus is located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and includes a 254-bed community-owned hospital, and a wide range of physician clinics including a family physician residency program. Kootenai Health repeatedly earns regional and national recognition and is a Magnet facility. Visit the Recognition, Awards and Honors page for a look at Kootenai’s most recent awards.”
As a regional medical referral center, Kootenai Health (formerly Kootenai Medical Center) provides a comprehensive range of medical services to patients throughout the inland northwest.
The main Kootenai Health hospital and campus is located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and includes a 330-bed community-owned hospital and more than 200 employed providers across 25+ clinical specialties from family medicine, cardiology, orthopedics, surgery and more. Kootenai Health repeatedly earns national recognition for safety and is a Magnet nursing facility.
The Kootenai Hospital District is created when the medical needs of the local population outgrow the capacity of Lake City General and Coeur d’Alene General Hospitals. A larger, more modern facility is clearly needed. With support from local businessmen, construction starts at Seventh and Hazel using materials from dismantled barracks, which were originally located near Bayview, Idaho, at the Farragut Naval Training Station.
To oversee the Kootenai Hospital District, the first seven members of the board of trustees are appointed by the Kootenai County Commissioners. Kootenai Memorial Hospital opens its doors Half the cost of construction is funded by a federal grant. The other half is provided by a general obligation property tax levy, approved by over two-thirds of Kootenai County’s voters in a special election.
Kootenai Memorial replaces the outdated 36-bed Lake City General Hospital and 36-bed Coeur d’Alene General Hospital. Both are acquired by the Kootenai Hospital District and close with Memorial’s opening.
The giant blue whale on Coeur d’Alene’s Lincoln Way is getting ready to make waves in Kootenai County and beyond. Waves in health care available to Coeur d’Alene and the surrounding area, that is. The “whale” is a $21 million addition to Kootenai Memorial Hospital.
“We get more phone calls about the color of the thing than what’s going inside,” Joe Morris, hospital administrator said, with a chuckle. “When we tell people that the bright blue color is just a protective wrap for the aluminum exterior of the building that will be peeled way, some are relieved and some are disappointed.”
But everyone, hospital staff and patients alike, should be pleased with what the added 154,000 square feet will have to offer, Morris said. The same year, the Kootenai Memorial Foundation is established for the benefit of Kootenai and its patients. Since then, the community has generously donated almost $19 million to help provide hospital programs and services that might not otherwise have been available.