Originally named Southwest Hospital while under proposal beginning in 1968, it was renamed as Meridian Park when it opened after the Willamette Meridian, which bisects the hospital grounds. The medical facility was a joint venture between Emanuel Hospital and Physicians and Surgeons Hospital, which formed Metropolitan Hospitals. Groundbreaking occurred in 1971 and the hospital opened in 1973 when the city of Tualatin had a population of 750 at the 1970 Census and prior to the construction of now neighboring Interstate 205. The facility was built on in a rural area at the edge of the Portland metropolitan area and employed 109 people when it opened. In 1989, Emanuel Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, and Mount Hood Medical Center merged to create Legacy Health System, with Meridian Park becoming Legacy Meridian Park Hospital. A community health center was added in 1990 at a cost of $1 million. In May 1992, a $14 million expansion began that included a new maternity ward. In 1998, Meridian Park began a $21 million expansion. The construction added of space and 32 hospital beds. By 2002, the hospital was the ninth busiest in Oregon and served the cities of Tualatin, Tigard, Sherwood, Wilsonville, King City, and Lake Oswego among others. At that time it employed almost 800 people and was the largest employer in the city of Tualatin. A lab technician was arrested in 2003 on accusations of fondling patients. In 2005, the emergency department was expanded with a separate area for children created. The hospital purchased of adjacent land in 2006 for $7 million to allow for future expansion of the campus. Zoned for residential use that would also allow for hospital usage, the hospital requested a change in zoning in 2009 to ensure they could expand onto the site at a later date.
Services
Facilities at Legacy Meridian Park include a heart catheterization lab, breast health center, comprehensive stroke program, a 24-hour emergency room, cancer center, radiology services, a laboratory for sleep disorders, and an interventional cardiology department. Licensed for 150 hospital beds, Meridian Park had 138,331 total visits in 2007 with 28,018 patient days. The emergency department has 25 beds and served 31,548 people in 2007. As of 2009, it was the city's largest employer, with approximately 800 employees. There were 1,061 births at the hospital in 2007. The Meridian Park Hospital Heliport is located on the grounds of the medical center.
