— by Lin McNulty —
Orcas Issues reached out to the Orcas Medical Foundation to inquire about the status of the fundraising effort to bring University of Washington Neighborhood Clinics to Orcas.
UW Medicine estimated the cost of transitioning OMC to a UW Neighborhood Clinic would be $750,000. To move forward, they needed OMF to raise $750,000 by January 15, 2017.
The following statement was released today by Douglas Ellis of the Foundation Board:
“The fundraising for a UW Neighborhood Clinic was successful, and donations continue to come in. We had a good meeting with the UW people last Friday, and another meeting is planned for later this week. We look forward to letting you know more at that time.”
Island Hospital of Anacortes agreed to an extension of its current management contract, which expired on December 31, 2016, “to provide for the District’s continued operation of the Center as a primary care medical clinic with federal ‘rural health clinic’ status for residents and visitors on Orcas Island from January 1 until July 1, 2017 (the “Extension”) to allow for a reasonable transition period.”
HURRAY!!!
Have funds been raised or reserved for the subsidy required each year?
Kudos to the OMF fund-raising team for achieving this significant milestone.
As previously stated, achieving this contingency allows formal contract negotiations with UW to commence. I wish the OMF negotiating team good fortune towards reaching a deal that addresses the medical care needs of the entire community in 2017 and beyond…look forward to hearing more as negotiations progress…