“With continued growth in the Peninsula area, there is a need for more day surgical suites,” said President and CEO Diane Cecchettini. “We are eager to provide local residents with convenient, local access to MultiCare affiliated providers and advanced surgical care.”

At a hearing on the Certificate of Need in September, 12 people spoke in favor of the project and five testified against. The state has also received letters of support and form postcards that MultiCare made available at its locations.

The biggest opponent of the center is Franciscan Health System, which is working on a new hospital in Gig Harbor. Although MultiCare officials say their center would not affect the new hospital, Franciscan officials say it will significantly impact their bottom line. The project is already in jeopardy of being behind schedule due to traffic mitigation issues in Gig Harbor North, the planned location for St. Anthony's hospital.

“This project should be denied,” said Laure Nichols, Franciscan's senior vice president for Planning and Business Development. “We believe that the department has an obligation, both to Franciscan and to the Gig Harbor/Peninsula community, to provide our new hospital with the best chance for achieving and sustaining financial health. To do so will require that projects predicated on a competitive response, and not on any documented need, be avoided.”

MultiCare, which recently celebrated 15 years of serving the Gig Harbor area, was expected to issue a rebuttal before the Nov. 7 state decision.

The surgery center would be part of MultiCare's planned 80,000-square-foot specialty medical center in Gig Harbor, which would be complete by early 2007. The center would also include a Women's Health Center and a Sleep Center, along with other expanded services.