Deaconess Hospital was established in 1896 as one of the first hospitals in Spokane. One of its early specialties was orthopedic surgery. It is located immediately south of
Interstate 90 at Fourth Avenue, on the west side of
Lewis and Clark High School in the
Cliff/Cannon neighborhood. The Tennessee-based for-profit
Community Health Systems bought both Deaconess and Valley Hospitals in Spokane for $270 million in 2008, and followed the purchase up with the $50 million acquisition of the Rockwood Clinic primary, specialty, and urgent care system that services the region to create an integrated clinic and hospital network. The state health department of approval of the sale to CHS and its conversion to for-profit status came with stipulations that it invest $100 million in both facilities in five years and increase the amount of charity care among other criteria. The Rockwood Health System (formerly Empire Health Services), the previous owners of the properties sued CHS for allegedly failing to meet its obligations under the agreement and Washington state law in providing free of cost charity care to low-income people which resulted in a $50 million settlement to forgive medical debt in 2019. Tacoma-based not-for-profit provider, MultiCare bought the holdings from CHS in 2016. The hospital opened the MultiCare Deaconess Cancer Center in a new facility on their campus in 2021, which is designed to provide comprehensive care with a team-based approach. ==See also==