Finishing up is underway for summer opening Excelsior Wellness’ $8 million health clinic renovation. This project serves as a pioneer of sorts. It’s a new wave of development activity to envision a wellness campus on a 32-acre site in Spokane’s northwest Indian Trail neighborhood.
Approximately 25 acres of undeveloped land available for future use development and Preservation on the site where the nonprofit plans to build the Excelsior Wellness Village; CEO Andrew Hill says:
The Wellness Village will be built in phases over 10 years at an estimated cost of $100 million to $120 million. The goal of the envisioned campus is to strengthen the neighborhood’s commitment to well-being at every stage of life, Hill said.
“Our approach is that neighborhoods should act as a safety net. Neighborhoods should have a place for resources to support what people need,” he says.
Comprehensive plan revision
For Excelsior Wellness Village Filed with the City of Spokane During October. The plan has since been sent to a review committee, and in March a resolution was introduced to the Spokane City Council to change the site’s land use for future use.
The proposed plan amendment is currently subject to a 30-day agency comment period, followed by 60 days of public comment. Next on the project schedule is a Planning Commission hearing, followed by a City Council hearing, before the comprehensive plan goes to the Mayor’s desk for approval.
Excelsior currently operates a primary care clinic for all ages and a wellness center for youth from birth to age 21 on-site at Indian Trail. The nonprofit also operates a skilled nursing facility on campus that can provide hospice care, memory care, and high-intensity care. Psychiatric or behavioral health services For youth and young adults ages 11 to 21.
Off campus, Excelsior has locations in some schools and some specialty buildings on the Northside. .
To complement its current medical programs, the organization plans to open the campus for public access, add housing and provide space in a commercial retail district, Hill explains.
“It all starts with this land,” Hill says.
As envisioned, Excelsior Wellness Village will offer interconnected services serving three nearby communities: Balboa South Indian Trail, North Indian Trail and Five Mile Prairie areas. .
The site will also include Indigenous heritage, interpretive trails and conservation areas, along with an expanded arboretum, walking trails and healing gardens. In addition to an early learning center and housing for seniors, multigenerational and foster parents, recreational and leisure activities such as a pool, gym, games field and challenge course are also planned.
Hill said the campus will continue to support wellness services, health care and behavioral health.
“Our first neighborhood presentation went really well and was really energizing. They clapped at the end and thanked us, but it was great to see something like this being considered in the neighborhood.” I didn’t know that,” Hill said. “At this time, it is too early to determine what level of senior and workforce housing the community needs until we further discuss our vision with local residents.”
Image courtesy of Excelsior Wellness.The 32-acre Excelsior Wellness Campus will be developed to include housing on the northern portion of the property, a retail district along Indian Trail Road, and open space recreational uses on the lush hillside behind the clinic.
“This land has been used by Indigenous peoples for centuries,” Hill says.
In collaboration with the Spokane Tribe of Indians, an Indigenous heritage site was created on a portion of the undeveloped land, with a series of walking trails and signs to identify notable historical features, including historic glyphs. It is said that it will be done.
“Painted Rock State Park, just north of here, has glyphs similar to these,” Hill says. “We’re in the process of creating an agreement to preserve and protect (heritage) and let the tribes decide what the values are here.”
Indigenous Heritage is located within Excelsior’s expanded arboretum and is located along a wooded hillside behind the main clinic.
Senior housing, assisted living and memory care facilities are planned for the center of the site, southwest of a 50,000-square-foot, 32-unit skilled nursing building.
The residential campus plan includes traditional single-family homes that provide housing opportunities for people who want to raise children in the adjacent area, as well as microtransitional housing communities for seniors and youth.
“This is aimed at older people who are still independent and want to stay in the area and be part of the community but are unable to live independently, and those who cannot afford it but are able to establish independence away from family and carers. It will be housing for young people in need,” Hill explains.
Older adults tend to leave their neighborhoods for higher levels of long-term care, he says, but end up losing connections and support in their communities. By providing housing options, Excelsior Wellness Village is a place where seniors can stay in the community and give back in their later years.
walking district Also It will be incorporated into the village plan and will consist of local retail and community gathering and event space.
“We want to build a small pedestrian mall and bring in local businesses owned by minorities, women and veterans,” Hill said. “It helps support those resources.”
The retail district is suitable for bike rental companies, fitness providers, cafes, crafts, bookstores and more, and local residents are supportive of the idea, Hill said.
The plan is part of Excelsior’s significant transformation from a residential facility for high-needs youth to a facility offering more outpatient care serving approximately 5,000 families in the region. he says.
Hill explains that European homesteaders developed the land and then gave it to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who left it in its natural state for nearly 60 years.
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd built the building in the Lidgerwood area now occupied by North Town Mall. Later, due to the increasing population encroaching on the property, her second facility in the Spokane area was built on Indian Trail Road in 1959. Excelsior transitioned from 1978 to 1982 when he took over operations from Sisters, Hill says.
“It’s been 115 years since the sisters started this work,” he says. “They built their first homes as a response to the Orphan Trains of the era that sent hundreds of thousands of children west on trains during the Industrial Revolution. It was an opportunity to save them and give them an opportunity.”They were coming out of the inner city where they had suffered a lot of injuries and trauma. ”
He added: “Caring for children is an important part of the history of what happened in Spokane.”
Today, the facility still provides a place for Spokane’s youth to receive care, Hill said.
Construction on the nonprofit’s clinic expansion has been underway since late 2022.
Trauma-informed design is now a top priority for patients and includes elements such as separate reception rooms and exit areas. A variety of rooms and open spaces are provided for patients and families to wait and receive treatment, including traditional rooms, family areas, and sensory rooms.
People with urgent needs, such as the need for food, hygiene, or space to decompress Also Support is available at the clinic.
Six exam rooms, treatment rooms, observation rooms, and laboratories are located at North Point Medical Center, 9631 N. Nevada. I work at the Indian Trail Clinic.
“We’re excited to see this completed. The grand opening will be late summer.”
