Find Top-Notch Health Care in Pullman and Moscow

Courtesy of Gritman Medical Center

Across rural regions, access to advanced medical care is often limited by distance, resources and a historical mindset of competition among community health care providers. In the Palouse region straddling eastern Washington and northern Idaho, two long-serving institutions – Pullman Regional Hospital and Gritman Medical Center – have taken a different approach, shifting from competition toward strategic collaboration to ensure local access to specialty care and strengthen the health care matrix for residents across the region.

Located less than 10 miles apart, Pullman Regional in Washington and Gritman in Moscow, Idaho, have deep roots in their communities. Pullman Regional has expanded its services over the past two decades to include clinics in primary care, general surgery and cardiology amid growing patient demand, responding to nearly a doubling of emergency room visits and increased procedural volumes.

Community Needs

Pullman Regional’s leadership has framed this growth as a direct response to community needs. In a published message about the hospital’s Patient Care Expansion Project, CEO Matt Forge emphasized that the initiative is focused not only on additional square footage but on increasing access to care.

The project is designed to allow the hospital to provide better access, reduce wait times and limit traveling for specialized health care.

Gritman Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital and clinic network headquartered in Moscow, echoes that commitment. With more than 125 years of service, Gritman has expanded specialty services to create a more seamless, “one-stop” experience for patients who previously had to travel out of the region for similar care.

“It’s an important part of Gritman’s community mission and values that as many of our patients as possible get the care they need here on the Palouse so that they don’t have to travel long distances for vital treatment,” says Kara Besst, Gritman Medical Center president and CEO. “We’re proud to partner with our fellow community hospitals where it makes sense to bring specialty services like oncology, neurology and ENT to our community and ensure our patients get exceptional care that’s close to home.”

Courtesy of Gritman Medical Center

Partners In Care

The two institutions are now connected through Palouse Specialty Physicians, a regional partnership that includes Pullman Regional, Gritman, and Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics in Colfax. Both hospitals maintain robust independent offerings to ensure comprehensive coverage. For example, Gritman continues to independently operate vital specialty services including orthopedics, sports medicine, sleep medicine, gastroenterology, urology and pain management.

The success of this collaborative model is best told through the patients who use it. Oncology patients, like Alison Weigley, now have access to full-time oncology and hematology services close to home.

“I never thought Stage 3, triple negative breast cancer would be part of my life story,” Weigley says. “I am so grateful to have had care locally at Palouse Oncology. I had seven months of chemotherapy and 14 months of immunotherapy – all under the expert care of oncologist Dr. Rajeev Rajendra (aka Dr. Raj). I am alive today because of him and his team.”

In 2025, Weigley and her family logged more than 5,000 miles for medical cancer appointments.

“The care I was able to get locally dramatically reduced that travel,” she says. “Without local cancer care, it would have been so much more. Healing at home really does make a difference.”

Investing In The Future

To support this “healing at home” philosophy, both hospitals recently adopted the EPIC Electronic Health Record system.

The collaboration extends to infrastructure and surgical capacity. Gritman is nearing completion of a state-of-the-art sterile processing department and recently acquired Palouse Surgery Center to provide lower cost ambulatory options.

To sustain these services, Gritman hosts the region’s only certified nursing assistant training course, which has already seen 78 graduates take roles within the organization. This is bolstered by a nurse residency program and a volunteer program that places 700 students.