||| FROM MICHAEL D. ALPERIN, MD, MBA, MSS |||
I am writing to let the Orcas Island community know that I will not be pursuing employment with Island Hospital as they transition to the management of the clinic. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with community members over the past three years. It has been an honor and privilege. Take care and the best to all of you and all of yours.
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I have loved working with Dr. Alperin and hearing those cowboy boots come down the hall. Thank you for serving our community with such kindness and empathy, you will be greatly missed.
I am very sorry to hear this. You were very helpful with a health issue my husband experienced last summer.
Wishing you all the best in the future Dr. Alperin.
I will miss your charming wit and great stories. It has been wonderful working with you Dr. Alperin. Al :)
It is difficult to lose a a doctor who has been so caring and who actually listens. Dr Alperin will be sorely missed. I have benefitted greatly from his advice and friendship. Thanks, Mike, for everything.
With Dr. Alperin’s announcement coming on the heals of Dr. Russell’s similar decision, to me this calls into question the new relationship with Island Hospital. Losing two of our MD’s suggests to me that something about dropping UWMedicine in favor of Island Hospital may not have been an especially clever idea.
Is this why we voted a significant increase in our property taxes (which I supported)? So that we lose the doctors we’ve come to know and trust? First, Tony Giefer. Now David Russell and Michael Alperin. Is Camille Fleming next to go? What is Island Hospital thinking? What are the OIHCD board members thinking? How will Island Hospital replace Russell and Alperin in such a short time frame? So many questions…
So where WILL you be practicing? Some of us might like to follow you whether or not you are “in the system”.
Aggh!
What the …., ? Brilliant, just brilliant! WHY? Two very talented health providers leaving makes one wonder. Who can explain? Who will explain? Who cares, we’re only patients. Yes, I’m angry losing two physicians who aided me through a heart attack and a stroke. I’m alive because of these guys. I can only wish you both well and say Thank You.
Oh no! This is a terrible blow to my healthcare. Guess a lot of us are just collateral damage in OIHCD’s pursuit of Island Hospital. I am not pleased.
I am really, really sorry that Dr. Alperin is not going to stay.
He actually listened. He followed up. He could explain complex medical issues in great and understandable detail and outline a plan for tackling the problem, and all within his allotted minutes. And he made me laugh.
We are losing a good one. Damn.
My Orcas friends always sung your praises and I am certain you will be missed. Best of luck.
UW was not interested in renewing their contract
Island Hospital is working to manage our future clinic to serve the Community
If Doctors are leaving for personal reasons ?
We should not blame the Hospital District for these actions ? Can we just wait and stop the blaming game
This is a done deal so let’s wait and see
Enough Already !
UW was not interested in renewing their contract
I am very hopeful that Island Hospital is very committed
If Doctors are leaving for personal reasons,
We should not blame the Hospital District ?
This is a done deal that involved so much work
Can we give it a chance and stopped the blaming game !
Enough Already !
The OIHCD’s charge of ensuring the availability of quality primary, acute and after-hours medical care to all members of the Orcas Island community could hardly be more important, particularly during the current pandemic. The OIHCD has worked hard to get us to this point, and whether we agree with the decision to entrust Island Hospital with overseeing our health care (and I am not sure where I come down), I greatly appreciate their efforts. But, like other commenters, I wonder why these transitions – which seem far too frequent – always involve the loss of doctors many community members value, trust and enjoy having as neighbors. While we admittedly do not know whether or to what degree the departure of a particular doctor is by choice, I do not recall the decision makers (OIHCD commissioners and Island Hospital) seeking community input on whether to retain current providers. Wouldn’t that make even more sense when 45% of the population here is over 60, and not likely to benefit from having to change doctors every few years? With great regret, I thank Dr. Alperin for being my doctor and wish him only the best.
My biggest concern when I moved from Orcas to the Fairhaven area in Bellingham was that I would have to find a new doctor, as traveling to and from the ferry landing and taking the ferry to see Dr. Alperin would not be practical. Dr. Mike is an exceptional doctor, providing top notch care to me and to my husband. I think the island will truly miss his skills, his sense of humor, his very practical approach to medicine and, as someone already mentioned, his cowboy boots. Health care on Orcas looked so promising when the island came together and raised the funds to bring UW Medicine to our island; losing Dr. Alperin (following the loss of Dr. Russell) is certainly upsetting.
I cannot express how much Dr Alperin will be missed. Working with you was such a great experience and so many teaching moments. Thank you for taking care of so many Islanders and giving them impeccable top notch care! Watching and learning from Dr Alperin and Dr Russell taking care of patients has been a blessing in my Nursing career. Thank you both for EVERYTHING! So sad to see you go.
Gonna miss you Doc. Best of luck on your next adventure.
Doctor Alperin is the Best Doctor I have ever seen. He explains everything so well and draws diagrams so we can understand what we are dealing with. Like someone else says, “he listens,” and tells us the best way to proceed.. Yes, we saw the humor and always wondered whether he was just pulling our leg or, if some of the stories were really true. Losing Doctor Alperin is a great loss to us on Orcas Island Community. John Erly and Gail Koher
We too are VERY saddened to hear this news as we love Dr Alperin and the excellent care he
provided. We are also losing the backing of a top notch healthcare system, University of Washington. I also wonder who Island Hospital will be able to recruit. Lastly we wish Dr Alperin the very best and would love to know where sets up his new practice because we will follow even if it means travelling to Seattle.
Both Pete and I will miss your talent. After “dealing with chronic illness for 5 years,” you identified 2 underlying conditions the first visit (while 6 other physicians missed them both.) Furthermore, you’ve taken the time to teach me to manage them! We will both miss you. Thanks.
We are deeply disappointed that OIHCD has proved itself incapable of retaining Dr. Alperin.
Dr. Alperin’s departure will be a great loss, not only for his patients, but also for our entire community. We earnestly believe that he has given us the best, most competent medical care that we could have hoped for anywhere. In fact, we are amazed that it could have happened on our little island, but guess that it was just too good to last!
We wish you well, Mike, and, if you end up in practice somewhere reasonably close by, we’ll preferentially seek you out.
Jean and Steve Henigson
My husband and I have so appreciated the care we have gotten from Dr. Mike. He’s probably the best primary care physician we have had, in terms of training, skill and caring. I hope that the commissioners and, more importantly, Island Hospital administrative staff understand the loyalty that we, Dr. Alperin’s patients, have for him. Many of us are likely to vote with our feet and go elsewhere. I believe that it is incumbent on Island Hospital to take into account the patient base who will make or break their take-over of the clinic. Please ask them to return to the bargaining table and try harder to make this a smooth transition to a successful rural clinic.