||| FROM CAMILLE FLEMING, MD, MBA |||
After much consideration, I have decided not to pursue employment at the Island Hospital Orcas Clinic [Island Primary Care-Orcas] at this time. It has been a great honor to serve you under OMC/IH and UW Medicine.
I have high hopes that the new clinic will provide many of the services that are needed on Orcas Island including after hours care, x ray and labs. I appreciate that so many have come together to make those things possible.
As a physician, I place great value on continuity of health care, my relationship to patients, and sharing community with the patients I serve. I am considering the best next steps and will update you in the future.
With much respect and gratitude.
PLEASE, Island Hospital, give us some guidance for our choosing the new doctors that will be taking the place of the ones we have so relied on for so many years, some here long before UW took over.
I would like, as soon as you have other physicians, PAs or MAs signing on to be given their bios. I definitely would like to stay with our one clinic, but at this point feel kind of “abandoned”. In my almost 20 years here on Orcas, I’ve had four primary physicians, due to no fault of my own….when doctors shifted their affiliations, etc.
And I know we are all very curious as to why your new management of the clinic didn’t convince our 3 doctors to stay on.
p.s. Still requesting that at least one of our new physicians have a deep interest and training in Geriatrics…I’m willing to bet that the majority of.patients to the clinic are over 60.
oh I am so sad to hear that Dr. Fleming will not be staying
Okay… I’m not a Bright Antilihigal sort of Guy…. anyone one else feeling a little Off on this news.
It’s probably just silly that a few Dr’s are stepping out of the ring. But for some reason , my right Eye brow is lifting higher then normal. Maybe it’s just the 30 plus years in Emergency Services… but Stability is a fundamental bass line for Emergency Care.
I’m going to raise my left eye so I can see what I’m missing. I’m sure it’s nothing and I can go back to sleep.
Margot Shaw, I’ve got you beat. I’ve had four primary doctors during 10 years on the island, due to no fault of my own. And each was an excellent provider, including Dr. Fleming. I’m guessing that one or more of the doctors leaving the clinic will set up practices of their own on the island, thus defeating the primary reason for establishing a public hospital taxing district with its attendant significant increase in property taxes. The idea was to consolidate practices into the clinic and support it with a secure source of funding. Given this, it’s a mystery why the hospital district commissioners and Island Hospital didn’t work hard to retain our doctors. With a change of management it’s perhaps understandable why one doctor might leave, but all three? Once again, it seems the island will be left with a fractured health-care system just as it was 10 years ago.
I am so sorry to hear about the departure of Dr. Fleming, who has provided responsive and compassionate care to my family and so many others in the community. I know that her decision was based, to a large extent, on her assessment of whether she would be able to continue to provide that kind of care and service with Island Hospital. The fact that she is, now, the third doc to decide not to continue with the new Island Hospital administration is even more concerning; and while I have been happy to entrust our capable Health District board with the very complex and difficult decisions involved in selecting and negotiating with a provider organization, I think that we are now owed and explanation by both the board and Island Hospital for their inability to retain any of our existing and valued providers.
Several things bother me: the continued turn over of trusted doctors at our clinic; the seeming lack of confidence that our current doctors display in Island Hospital’s ability to provide excellent and consistent care for our community; and the lack of communication from Island Hospital about future consistent staffing at the time of turn over from UW to IH. While I appreciate the long hours and hard work put in by the commission, I find the uncertainty of excellent medical care, especially for seniors, on Orcas to be troubling. The loss of our three excellent doctors does not inspire confidence.
If Drs. Alperin, Fleming and Russell — or some subset of them — were to set up their own private practice(s) on Orcas Island, could they expect support from the hospital district? This is an important question that deserves an answer, especially if they were to take on Medicare patients, who don’t pay full freight.
Three highly admired physicians have, independently of one another, declined to continue with the Orcas Island clinic now that it is being run by Island Hospital. Why has this happened? Gee, hard to guess, isn’t it? Hmm . . . the only common element in these three cases is IH. One cannot help concluding that this unfortunate (and preventable) outcome bodes ill for the future of our new clinic under the aegis of IH.
Good luck Camille. I enjoyed meeting you and discussing the future of health care on Orcas back before UW had been chosen. What you predicted would occur has come to fruition. Maybe that was your MBA speaking? I can see why patients will miss you. Wherever you go (or if you stay on Orcas in private practice?) that community will be fortunate to have the benefit of your knowledge, experience, and expertise.
I’m not surprised but I’m sorry they are all going at once, without explanation to their patients. I was already feeling I’d been abandoned by the doctors in that clinic since about June ; except for the front desk ladies, who were and are exemplary – and the nurses – but I guess they go with their doctors and we’ll lose them all too? .
What surprises and dismays me is why Dr Shinstrom insisted on being included in “one” integrated clinic when he knew he was retiring? What was that supposed to guarantee or accomplish? All of this cost us UW, – they clearly stated they were not up for expansion during a pandemic – and ALL FOUR island doctors.; So what gives? What was the point in all that, and why is our clinic fractured into bits – again?
Some good questions are asked in the comments here. Since it is already rumored that Dr. Russell will start his own practice, as will Dr. Alperin; will Dr. Fleming join them and they all start a practice together? Where does this leave medicare and medicaid patients? Why was Dr. Shu’s proposal not taken seriously if all were so concerned about having Island Hospital take over from UW? I thought UW was great; I think Island Hospital will be great, based on my experiences with their staff over in Anacortes; who’ve all been wonderful. Dr. Shu would have been wonderful; his ideas were visionary.
Why won’t anyone tell us what’s going on? I’m sad that the whole thing at the clinic has busted apart; again. The place seems cursed since it was built; maybe is it sitting on mass Indigenous burial grounds… something’s not right, energetically.
If the pandemic is here to stay, perhaps it’s time to find a doctor on the mainland and do tele-health. I feel let down and abandoned by the outgoing doctors – and no explanation forthcoming from any corner – It’s all unsettling and it all seems so…. unnecessary.
My thoughts to this most disappointing news is similiar to those comments before me with several additions. As with others, I too have endured the changes through 4 primary and several secondary care providers here on Orcas. All have been most excellent people. Stan Williams departure I understood, Tony Giefer’s, not at all and now Camille Fleming’s , not at all. Dr Russel was a most excellent doctor, also.
The common factors seem to include the aforementioned Island Hospital, but also the local board of our beloved med center and the new tax board. Seems the blame starts and ends with management. Do we need to continue this rotating cast of Doctors in the name of corporate profitability? Or is it incompetence?
Will you now need to import and pay for a transition of a new dortor team?
Like many folks my age, I grew up with a family doctor who saw me into adulthood. That relationship ended with my move 700 miles north. I found another fine Doctor who I was priviledged to see for most of 30 years. You who manage these facilities need to understand my view of the doctor/patient relationship: Its personal, up close, intimate. It takes time to develope confidence. I had a life threating illiness during the UW transition. After 4 ER visits and numerous strangers struggling over my body, things worked out. Many fine people involved, but no primary care care provider (causing many a delay of service) and no real explanation of what happened to me, so no hope of avoiding this again. Written reports only give a snapshot picture.
You who manage this system need to remember that while my doctor may see hundreds of people in a year, I only see 1 primary Doctor. She knew me as steve, both in the clinic and the grocery store. I was delighted to call her Camille, knowing full well she was Dr. Fleming with all due RESPECT, admiration and some other emotions I can’t put into words here.
Camille, Lynn and I would like to follow you to your next gig. As you’re tooooo young to retire, we look forward to that day. Let us know
with much respect, love and gratitude,
steve emmes
We will so miss Dr. Camille Fleming! We wish her the very best in her future endeavors John and I are very grateful. We felt great relief upon meeting her and are deeply saddened to learn of her departure.
Julia and John Gates
We seem to have a colossal failure of negotiations here. Who knows why. But as with all such failures where really important principles come into conflict but the need is great: Return to the table. Come on, people…let’s get ‘this done.
Strong agreement with Steve’s note. Something seems seriously amiss with Island Hospital expectations and it is affecting a large number of Orcas residents.
The taxpayers for this ‘failure’ have a right to know what the issues are. If the problems are kept a ‘secret’ they will likely persist without remedy, a scenario not conducive to continued tax support..
I agree that it’s time for the District to provide information to the patients and taxpayers of Orcas Island about WHY the physicians so many relied upon are leaving. Was it compensation? Was it some other aspect of Island Hospital’s proposed management? (For just this once, I’d be happy to see an increase in our taxes to cover any valid compensation concerns voiced by the departing physicians. Might the three departing physicians consider a group practice that could contract with Island Hospital?) I’d urge the departing physicians to be frank with the District about why they chose to depart. At this point, we’ve spent millions and gained nothing, except perhaps for the new roof on the building. In fact, at this point, it looks like we are in a much worse situation–are there any physicians officially on staff for the handover?
As for Medicare patients–who must be the majority of patients on the island–they can receive care from any licensed and participating physician, at the the clinic or in private practice. It’s the Medicaid patients who may struggle to find a provider.
And the District needs to make clear that subsidies will be limited to the District facility. We cannot begin that cycle of multiple practices under subsidy again.
Peg hits the nail on the head. Medicaid patients are the biggest losers should we fail to provide a consolidated clinic. This is one of the critical issues that we have been trying to resolve, I am sorry the current providers have opted not to sign on, but feel strongly that the deciding factor has to be what serves all of the community the best….even if that means losing my personal provider. I have faith that we can get there- together!
Good comments above.
As it now stands the price of supporting a consolidated clinic is to lose your doctor. That was not inevitable. It was a choice by Island Hospital and the health district board for reasons I don’t understand.
All that remains clear is that every Orcas patient is now up in the air about who their doctor will be. Continuity of care matters more as we age and that is gone unless new medical practices open, starting the cycle all over again.
As taxpayers who funded this change, we deserve a full explanation.
Dr. Flleming has been the best physician I have had in my 70 years of medical care. I know how deeply she cares for her patients. Her decision not to pursue a contract with Island Hospital Orcas Clinic was made, I am guessing, because the situation would not allow her to provide the quality of care she insists upon. I agree with others that it seems it must be a failure of IH somehow, though I must admit, I fail to understand the complexity of this issue. I’m discovering with the comments above I’m not the only one who feels in the dark about it all. I may be naive to hope for this but I hope Peg’s suggestion is possible, that the three wonderful physicians who did not pursue a contract, will open a practice here on the island. We need you! And, Camille, I also agree with Steve. I followed you when you went to Seattle and I will follow you to your next steps if I can. But I wish those who are in the position to do this would examine what needs to change to lure these three doctors back.
“I’ve heard through the grapevine” (always a most reliable info source … not) that Dr Fleming is slatted to continue for a short transition time with the new clinic, IH due to her contract dates.
As to why 3 wonderful doctors might choose to not stay, I would guess compensation and work load/style might be the answer. The corporate medical model appears to me to be one in which a patient gets whomever is available at any given time. Doctors need to see more patients per day, thereby shortening time with each and perhaps lowering the perceived/real quality of care. Having been part of quality of care on Orcas Island, I’ve come to appreciate the whole person approach. The quick review of current patient thought and symptom review confined to a few minutes leaves a lot of our health info out.
Assembly line medical care doesn’t work for me.
I’m hoping that my support of health district tax and the Orcas Medical Clinic doesn’t negate the possibility of other, competing practices on Orcas.
I’m, also, hoping that the various boards: Tax district, Orcas Medical Center and Island Hospital will get off their duffs and address their communities concerns.
Pretty press releases are a poor second.
Seems we have a right to know; its our money (taxes and service fees) and our health that are at risk.