— from Kathy Youngren —
When Jim and I bought our property on Orcas in 1977, our younger son, Andrew, was just three years old. Now, 40 years later, Andrew and his wife Emily live on the Island and have a three-year old son, James. Their older child, five-year old Alma was born with serious health challenges in 2012. Andrew and Emily were so uneasy about bringing her back to the Island due to the unsure and unstable health care options that they stayed in Seattle with their new baby until she was two months old. Another of our sons Eric also lives on the Island and his son Zane is here a lot. With three generations of Youngrens living on Orcas, our medical needs are many and varied. We all support a medical taxing district that would provide stable and high-quality primary and urgent care, 24/7.
Similar efforts have been made in the past but the new and very inclusive approach this time is that financial assistance will be available to all currently existing primary/urgent care practices. This is a very positive change and one that I think we all can support, regardless of our choice of practitioners.
Currently our family seeks much more than half of our medical services at off-island facilities. When we or our kids go off island for treatment the expenses add up: ferry tickets, meals, gas and sometimes even lodging. The money we spend on these occasions would more than equal the money we will pay in increased taxes to support the medical district.
I was surprised to hear that the good folks of Lopez voted overwhelmingly (83% in favor) last Spring to create a medical district. I can’t quite believe Lopez beat us to the punch by making the very important decision to support access to high-quality medical care for everyone on their island. Come on Orcas, you know how we hate it when Lopez beats us at anything!
Wouldn’t it be nice to have stable, predictable, and sustainable healthcare services on our Island, too?
Let’s do this!
We had a very informative meeting at our house with our neighbors . Pegi Groundwater and Patti Miller were the presenters. We will be voting for this tax and urge others to vote. Maybe we can beat Lopez with 84%!
Great letter Kathy. Thank you!
Ginny Reagles
Thank you Kathy…Nancy and I represent two generations to make Orcas our home ..We are looking forward to our daughter and family making the move to make it four generations…BUT health care and its reliability is a major consideration for them to make the jump to our beautiful oasis here.
We stand in support of the proposal to have a health supported taxing district.
Great letter, Kathy! And, as you said, the inclusive approach this time makes a big difference. I’ll definitely be voting for the proposal.
These positive comments and support for the health care proposal should be voices for the proposal. Thanks to those to support the Public Hospital District! The vote is near!