Thumbs up to Valley Medical Center on its latest enhancement – more operating rooms – to healthcare in its service area.

The hospital, whose public district includes Covington and an area near Maple Valley, plans to open eight new ORs this summer. That will give Valley Medical a 17-room surgery center, which is part of a $200 million expansion. Included in the latter is a seven-story tower that will include a new emergency room the size of a football field.

The new operating rooms are spacious – bigger than the current rooms, hospital officials say – and capable of handling new surgical techniques and equipment. “We can do anything in these rooms” is how Rich Roodman, Valley Medical’s chief executive officer, summarizes their importance.

For non-medical reasons, Valley Medical has been in the news in recent months as commissioners of the hospital district and citizens have quarreled over governmental procedures. Those disputes don’t overshadow the hospital’s mission of serving its communities – for which the new operating rooms and other improvements serve as a timely reminder.

Thumbs up to King County’s Wastemobile, which is paying a visit to Covington this weekend to help citizens get rid of hazardous household substances the environmentally correct way.

Through 5 p.m. today in the parking lot at the Fred Meyer store, pesticides, oil-based paint and car oil, among other substances, can be disposed of safely. Your environment thanks you.

Editor Pat Jenkins