||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER |||

For decades, Hospice of the Northwest has been a vital resource in San Juan County. Their dedicated staff and volunteers commit to providing exceptional care to people with life-limiting illnesses, their families, and circles of support. That care is now under threat.

Two Skagit County public healthcare districts, which own Hospice of the Northwest, are in discussions to sell the non-profit to a private equity-owned organization called Bristol Hospice. Such sales have increased recently.

The risk is that companies boost profits by cutting staff, increasing caseloads, and limiting home health care. Services may also be reduced, especially to areas where it is more expensive to operate, such as San Juan County.

If this concerns you and would like to see the non-profit Hospice of the Northwest continue to provide the high quality of care it does, please make your voice heard by sending a letter addressed “Dear Commissioner” to pbrowning@skagitregionalhealth.org.