The need for cardiovascular care is growing, and the planned $42 million renovation of Providence Heart Institute is expected to help Spokane’s largest health care system meet that demand.

“Unfortunately, cardiovascular disease continues to rise across the country," says Michael Pirkle, executive director of Providence Heart Institute, in Spokane. "American Heart Association is predicting increased incident of cardiovascular disease in adults and the pediatric population into the future, so there’s definitely great demand.”

Renovations of the 30-year-old Spokane facility, located at 62 W. Seventh, are expected to begin in the first half of 2025.

Once completed, the Heart Institute will be able to serve 15% to 20% more patients, Pirkle says. He estimates the health care center currently cares for about 60,000 patients each year, which means it will have the potential to serve 9,000 to 12,000 additional patients annually, following renovations.

“The goal is we will have more treatment space, more exam space for our patients, which is going to allow us to take the current increased volume of patients who need care, and then that projected future volume of patients who will need care,” says Pirkle.

As demand for care grows, so does the need for additional providers, and the upgraded facility is expected to help with recruitment, according to Colleen Fox, chief philanthropy officer at Providence Inland Northwest Foundation.

"We want them to come and feel like they’ve arrived at a place that really is world class,” Fox says.

About 300 people work at the Heart Institute.

“We are projecting a need for more providers and staff into the future,” says Pirkle. “There is a demand for cardiovascular care, and so being able to recruit more providers is going to be important.”

Population growth and an aging demographic are among the factors contributing to the increased demand for care, Pirkle explains.

“There’s specific growth for this region, people moving into the Spokane area,” he says. “With cardiovascular care, a good portion of our patients with cardiovascular disease are older, and the population as a whole is getting older.”

Because of the Heart Institute’s capabilities, patients also come in from Washington’s West Side, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana, Pirkle says.

“We are unique to cities of comparable size. We are able to do heart transplants. We are able to care for babies in utero who have heart conditions,” Pirkle says. “I think that’s rare for a city this size.”

Fox adds, “There are procedures that we’re doing here that are only done at five other locations throughout the entire United States,” mentioning robotic mitral valve repair as a specific example. “There are some really unique and innovative things that are happening here.”

Pirkle says the Heart Institute has the Inland Northwest's only heart transplant program, only teen congenital heart center, largest robotic thoracic program, and is the only medical center to offer congenital heart surgeries in the region.

The improved capabilities also have played a role in increasing demand for care, Fox explains.

“The outcomes in that pediatric congenital heart patient population are so much better than they were even 10 years ago that those kids are getting into their teen years and adulthood and leading productive lives, but those are patients who will need care throughout their entire life,” she says. “So as that patient population grows, that also puts an increase on demand.”

Some practice areas at the Heart Institute have been nearing capacity, Pirkle says, but the renovations should help address that concern.

“The layout is less than optimal,” he says. “I think through just advances in architecture and design, there are ways to make the space much more efficient and be able to create more treatment spaces, clinic exam rooms for our patients.”

When the five-floor building was constructed in the 1990s, cardiologists and surgeons practiced in a very different way than they do now, Pirkle says. There wasn’t as much collaboration and interdisciplinary care.

The new design will make it easier for patients to navigate the building as they come in to see multiple specialists throughout the facility, he says.

“It’s the current and future state of how we practice health care,” says Pirkle.

The renovation project will be completed in two phases, starting next year. Each phase is expected to take about 24 months.

“The first phase will be a refresh of the exterior of the building,” Fox says. “One of the really important things for caregivers and patients is creating a covered walkway from the north entrance into the building, so it’s easier to access the space.”

The first phase also will include renovation of the first floor, including the first-floor clinic. A more centralized welcome area for patients also will be created.

A “sacred space” also is being added, she says.

“On the first two floors, we’re adding ... a reflective space for patients and caregivers to utilize when they may have had a difficult conversation or just need some place to step away,” Fox says. “Right now, there’s nothing like that at the Heart Institute." 

A new, modern pediatric catheterization lab also will be created.

The second phase will involve consolidating clinic suites on the upper floors of the building.

Plans for the Heart Institute’s renovation project have been in the works for years, Fox says.

“This is a project that was identified as a strategic priority as early as 2018,” she says.

Providence Inland Northwest Foundation began planning a fundraising campaign for the project in 2020 but had to pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foundation hopes to raise $10 million to put toward the project—it already has surpassed $8 million—while the remaining $32 million will be funded by Providence.

“The vast majority of support has come from individual donors—some of our providers, and then many people who have really personal experiences, whose lives and families’ lives have been impacted through the Heart Institute,” she says.

Fox says the foundation aims to finish the fundraising campaign by early next year.

“We already have a world-class Heart Institute here in terms of the clinical care that’s provided,” Fox says. “We want to create a space that is reflective of that.”