— from Spirit Eagle —
I feel that if the board chooses Island Hospital to run our clinic again, it will be a mistake.
We have talent here. Seeking professionals off island, when we have perfectly capable island physicians and auxiliary personnel here who care about our community because it is theirs also, would not be the best use of taxpayer money. Let’s keep this money on the Island.
Let’s empower our local health care providers to bring even greater health to the Orcas Island community. Having a model where we rely on off island providers is not a sustainable model, as has been proven many times. Bringing in Island Hospital again will not solve the egregious problems of flying people off island when they don’t need it; in fact, it probably will increase those flights. It will be in Island Hospital’s best fiscal interest to funnel as many people as possible into their Emergency Room at the Anacortes Clinic.
Right now, we put the burden of diagnosis on our wonderful EMTs, yet these people are unable to diagnose a myriad of physical problems that mimic heart attacks. Hence, people here have to frequently go through the traumatic experience of being flown off island unnecessarily, as well as the expenses incurred by that.
I am also concerned about the transparency, or lack of, of Island Hospital’s “Books.” For very obvious reasons to me, given the Covid-19 situation, I am concerned that the Orcas Clinic is seen as a “cash cow” for Island Hospital without the appropriate needs of our community being taken into consideration. We have World Class medical talent here that we need to be utilizing to its fullest extent. Why not take advantage of our own resources first, before outsourcing to off island providers?
I fear that the board doesn’t give credence to non-western medicine as an inclusive component of good healthcare. Funding a coalition of local providers here, could start a renaissance of truly healthy living for Orcas Islanders. We have the resources here, we have the talent here, let’s utilize it. Making a decision in favor of island independence and self -reliance, empowers us islanders in the truest sense of the word, while enjoying the fruits of our great medical talents, right here on Orcas.
Thank you, and I urge you vote in favor of our island independence, self reliance, good health, local physicians and auxiliary personal. Let’s run our own Clinic!!!
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I was so impressed by Island Hospital presentation to our Health District on July 30th
Island Hospital new CEO Charles Hall provided so much information as to how they would manage the clinic, cooperating with our EMS
and local providers.
I agree Pierrette. And all of the staff we have now in both clinics would remain. To believe we can develop our own medical clinic is a pipe dream, and UW wouldn’t stay long enough for us to accomplish that even if we could. I definitely give credence to non-western medicine and there is no reason it can’t thrive here, but we still need to maintain our standard medical care practices at the Orcas Clinic, and Island Hospital has certainly presented us with that possibility.
Madie, I am wondering where you get the assurance about staffing. Please share this with all of us.
Island Hospital cannot “funnel” island patients to its main campus. The air evacuation services take patients to St. Joseph Bellingham, Everett, or Harborview.
The District received only two proposals, one from Island Hospital and one from a sole practitioner.
The Orcas Clinic is hardly a cash cow.
Peg: IH recently contracted with Airlift Northwest for services, resurfaced their helipad (servicing 80 landings per year), and is a stroke and trauma center. The IH CEO emphasized the partnerships between IH, our EMS, and Airlift Northwest to support emergency services. I suspect that a number of future medevacs would be to IH.
Millie: The IH proposal stated, “It is our intent [to] retain providers and staff and to honor current wages.” The IH briefing last week stated, “All current staff of both clinics … will be invited to apply for positions.”
Sorry, but I still find a little ambiguity in”intent to retain” vs. “invited to apply”.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we have Island hospital manage the clinic a few years ago? I thought it did not end well then….has something changed?
Yes, Jason, some very key financial elements will improve with this collaboration. The leadership is fresh. And, this is the only serious option to consider at the moment. Since you have internet access, I urge you to learn more and engage in the public meetings via zoom.
I see some opportunities here. I appreciate the point that Spirit Eagle repeatedly points to with respect to becoming more discerning regarding emergency transportation necessities. I’m also appreciative to learn about Alex Conrad’s return to Orcas as a Paramedic. And, we do have a rather extraordinary collection of health-supporting individuals, and organizations, that may find benefit in self-organizing as a learning community.
You’re right, Milly. I made an assumption. They will be invited to reply and HOPEFULLY will be retained. I guess there would be no assurances, but then there wasn’t with UW either. I urge all to attend the Health District zoom meeting tonight at 5 and hear the latest. The link is on the meetings page of orcashealth.org. – 5 p.m.
having had a TIA, i can assure you that Island Hospital is not a stroke and cardiac center. They do the best they can and the ER staff was wonderfu, as were all the people on the teams during my brief stay. I waited to go to Island Hospital because the thought of being taken by helicopter to St. Joe’s during a pandemic, with no way back to the island once released, was so stressful that i took the risk to NOT be medi-vacced and had a friend drive me to the last ferry – AFTER i got my end of life wishes notarized. If Island Hospital is considering having a stroke and cardiac unit that would ease my mind, and I’m sure many others’. CONTINUED NEXT COMMENT
That (above) said:
Having read Dr. Vincent Shu’s and Island Hospital’s original and not updated proposal, I was more impressed by Dr. Shu’s proposal. I guess what I wonder is why we continue down a road of HMOs and profit before health, when traditional western medicine is not the end all be all for everyone.
Integrative and Functional Medicine would save millions of dollars and many lives with both preventative measures and non invasive treatments that treat the whole person and whole systems – not just symptoms. It is disheartening to see that when someone proposes something visionary, people back away from it and take the “safe” road of same old, same old – and wonder why we keep running into these same problems with the clinic.
I hope the hospital board will implement some of Dr. Shu’s suggestions and not throw everything out that he proposed. Is there a way to include him in the negotiations with Island Hospital for a win-win-win solution?
What people need to understand, and what I hear, is when you go into the Orcas Clinic run by Island Hospital, you are going to be referred to Island Hospital in Anacortes to see their oncologist, or their cardiologist. The business model for them is to get as many people over to Anacortes as possible, that is how they make money, as Island Hospital is forecasting that the Orcas Clinic will actually loose $500,000 over five years.
Just be aware of that.
Thanks, Bill. Island Hospital is only a Level 3 Trauma Center and a Level 2 Stroke Center, and I assume that the EMTs and their medical director will determine the best destination for a patient. Their trauma level doesn’t mean they can’t administer a neighborhood clinic; in fact, I think that I read that Island Hospital has a number of community clinics in its service area.
Sadie–Island Hospital is a Level 2 Stroke Center.
Sadie and Dominic–Island Hospital is owned and operated by Skagit County Public Hospital District No. 2–it’s not a for-profit entity–It’s taxpayer funded. There’s no reason why anyone needs to accept a referral to, say, an oncologist at Island Hospital.
As for saving “millions of dollars” and lives through integrative and functional medicine, even if that proposition were established, the fact remains that this clinic will have to provide Western medicine because 1) the majority of Orcas residents require and/or prefer it, and 2) the only hope of keeping the clinic operating is through payments by the Medicare and Medicaid programs for a large part of the patient population. Medicare and Medicaid principally cover Western medicine.
I also read Dr. Shu’s proposal. It didn’t respond to much of the RFP. Moreover, it provided little reason to think that there was management experience or financial wherewithal to shoulder responsibility for the clinic.
My one experience with Island hospital – airlifted to their care in a coma – was not edifying. Nor is the news that the Board voted unanimously to join forces once again with the dysfunctional medical system particularly encouraging.,
New management or not it is still a , ‘pay to play” system where, ‘choice” is negated in the interests of profit.
When I voted in favor of the health care district I expected a bit more imagination than I have seen in their floundering approach to consolidation.
Just a reminder, we can run our own clinic with the talent we have here on the Island. The Orcas Island Health Care District seems to ignore the fact that we have a heart specialist with the equipment to diagnose whether potential heart attack symptoms are actually a heart attack or one of six other medical conditions. It’s unfortunate that the OIHCD is inclined to utilize an off island clinic, yet again. What happened to Island Independance and Self Relience, using the talent that is already here?
One more time for the folks in the back: Island Hospital is owned and operated by Skagit County Public Hospital District No. 2–it’s not a for-profit entity–It’s taxpayer funded. I’d be floored if it has even a decent operating margin, much less “profit” (which doesn’t exist in the public hospital district world).