On Wednesday, King County Executive Dow Constantine sent his recommendations to the County Council regarding improvements to the King County Metro transit system.

Among the more than five-dozen service changes proposed by Constantine was a service extension to Metro Route 200 in Issaquah, in order to better serve the Issaquah Highlands.

If approved by the county council, 200 would begin serving Swedish Medical Center’s Issaquah campus in March 2016. The route would simultaneously cease service to Southeast Bush Street near Issaquah High School under the proposal, in order to accomplish the extension without increasing the cost of the route.

The proposal has been a priority for Swedish Issaquah’s Dr. Rayburn Lewis. Having worked previously in four hospitals in areas with greater urban density and infrastructure, he’s long known the benefits of public transit access for patients and health care employees alike.

“I’ve been chief executive here for a year and a half and one of the first things I did was ask folks at the city why there wasn’t a bus stop at our doorstep,” he said.

As they worked to see the proposal move forward, Lewis and Swedish Issaquah officials worked with the mayor’s office and Land Development Manager Lucy Sloman in her capacity as staff liaison to the Urban Village Development Commission. The city, in turn, communicated the idea to King County Metro.

Route 200, a free-to-ride route, was extended to the Highlands Park and Ride in June. It previously served the valley floor exclusively.

“Both [the June extension and the current proposal] are giant leaps for Issaquah Highlands residents,” said Issaquah City Councilor Nina Milligan, a Highlands resident and the communications manager for the Highlands Council. “However, there is still a little gap that I hope — some day — will be filled, connecting the Highlands and North Issaquah directly to Olde Town.”

The King County Council is scheduled to discuss the public transit proposals over the coming weeks. Any changes approved by their vote will be implemented in March.

As soon as that happens, Swedish Issaquah administrators plan to announce the new bus availability to staff, Lewis said.