||| BY SUSAN MCBAIN, REPORTER |||
After several weeks of negotiations, the Orcas Island Health Care District approved a contract with Island Hospital (IH) on Oct. 15 to operate a single medical clinic on the island. March 1, 2021, is the planned opening date for the new practice. The current two practices, UW Medicine and Orcas Family Health Center, are both expected to cease operations by that date.
Although almost all of the contract language was acceptable to the five commissioners, they could not agree on whether to add one statement. Commissioners Pegi Groundwater and Patty Miller wanted to add a “triggering event” to the contract’s list of six events that could allow early contract termination: a decision by IH to eliminate any of the “required services” listed in an appendix to the contract. However, IH declined to make any further changes to the contract, which its attorney had approved.
In spite of strong reassurances by commissioners Richard Fralick, Diane Boteler and Art Lange and Superintendent Anne Presson that IH is fully committed to providing all those services, and that other provisions of the contract would not permit such a unilateral action, the vote to approve the contract was 3–2. The final contract will be signed by both parties this week.
District Chair Richard Fralick said, “I am excited that we’ve reached this milestone after a lot of hard work by the entire Board and Superintendent Presson. I’m confident we will all come together to support this new endeavor, and I look forward to working with Island Hospital to create a new clinic model for Orcas Island.” The next step is providing official contract termination notification to the two existing clinics, setting up transition plans for both and for the new practice, and coordinating those plans and schedules.
The long saga of repairs to the clinic building’s roof and HVAC system, and the noisy process of doing them, will end this month. Recent rains revealed no leaks or other problems, and the temperatures in the building are reported to be much more comfortable. Final cost figures are not yet in, but the total is likely to exceed the budgeted amount of almost $600,000 by about $15,000–$20,000.
Miller reported that the new five-year forecast for the District budget shows an ending cash balance in 2025 of about $2,130,000, plus about $800,000 in reserves. The improved financial position may justify a decrease in the levy rate at some point.
The District’s budget hearing is scheduled for its next regular meeting on Nov. 3. Total income for 2020 is expected to be about $2,716,000; the proposed budget income for 2021 is about $2,678,000. Expenses for 2020 are projected at about $1,867,000, and the proposed budget figure for 2021 is about $1,754,000. To view the current budget draft, click this link.
The District’s next regular meeting and budget hearing will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m. The Zoom link for the meeting will be posted a few days in advance on the District’s Meetings Calendar; click the link on Nov. 3 to attend.
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Wow, after all this time and effort it comes down to a 3-2 vote. That’s not especially reassuring. King of reminds me of the 5-4 votes from SCOTUS…
I am sending my thanks to the board for the time they have given to the decision to contract with Island Hospital. In my 54 years of Orcas island living, I have had many contacts with Island Hospital. My family has always been treated with efficiency, respect and excellent medical care. From specialized care to ER visits, as recent as 9-1-20, with confidence we have been grateful for Island Hospital,
The “New clinic model” will enable all of the people who want their medical care on island. Island Hospital knows us and we know and can count on them to help all of us with the care we need.
I am very grateful for the hard work on the parts of so many committed islanders that has gone into arriving at a decision to create a unified practice. I’m grateful as well, to the board members of both our current practices, for helping us to “stay afloat” for all the years it has taken to arrive at this point. The healthcare world around us feels like the new “Wild, Wild West!” to me; with the profit motive looming over all. Let’s all pull together to support what we used to call our Medical Center!
. . . And I should have added . . . Gratitude for all the work of Both the Medical Staffs it has taken to keep us afloat medically for all these years!
Am I alone in feeling sadness, dismay, even alarm, that such a significant change to our health care infrastructure here on Orcas was enacted by a 3-to-2 vote of the district board? After all the meetings, discussions, RFP wordsmithing, outside consultants’ reports, negotiations, etc., I had expected the five commissioners to reach consensus before making such a momentous decision. As it is, dropping UW Medicine in favor of Island Hospital hinged on a single vote.