||| FROM ANJI RINGZIN |||
I want to share my concern about the recent ‘letting go” of Dr. Jennifer Simpson-Manske from Island Primary Care – Orcas — and to invite others in our community who feel the same way to speak up.
My granddaughter and I were so happy that we had found Dr. Simpson-Manske – she listened carefully, cared for patients of all ages, and felt like a genuine part of island life. She was exactly the kind of doctor our small, rural community needs and deserves.
Access to quality, consistent primary care is already one of the great challenges of living on Orcas Island. Losing an experienced, beloved physician makes that challenge even harder for all of us — especially for elders (like me) and families who depend on stable, ongoing care relationships.
I urge the Orcas Island Health Care District Board and Island Health to review this decision and to hear what their community has to say. If others share this concern, I encourage you to contact the Health Care District Board at orcashealth.org and make your voices heard!
Our community’s health depends on the people who care for us. Dr. Simpson-Manske was one of them.
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Thank you for posting this letter. I’ve been vacillating between sadness and frustration since I heard of this . Dr. Simpson-Manske helped me through a very difficult 2025. I highly doubt that I would be where I am today without her knowledge and willingness to spend the extra time needed to set me on the right path to recovery. She has been the only Doctor I actually looked forward to see, because I knew I was in good hands.
i am bereft; as if I lost a family member. Letting go of such a wonderful physician seems a cruel, petty and mean-spirited act on the part of the clinic. To cast adrift her legions of grateful patients who have come to depend on her guidance, warmth, knowledge, and competence as a doctor seems an ill-advised and rash decision. Rural medicine is a unique skill and there aren’t many who have mastered it as well as she. I beg you to reconsider your options.
Regarding Dr. Jennifer Simpson-Manske.
I share the same sentiment and request of Anji Ringzin and many, many others!
I’ll echo what the others have said – cast adrift is the feeling. Now what? We have to start over from zero with new providers when we had someone whom we trusted? I had long-term plans for addressing my health with Dr. Simpson-Manske and now I do not know what to do. I feel betrayed by the administration of Island Primary.
Oh no, not again! I’ve lost so many good doctors in my years here. Terrible news.
I am extremely sad that we have lost this amazing talented doctor. I found her to be warm, compassionate and focused on helping me stay fit and healthy as I age. In my volunteer work helping people with Medicare I have heard many, many people talk about what an excellent doctor she is. A few of them even said that by carefully listening to them she discovered life threatening health issues that other doctors had overlooked. What a loss for our community.
I agree with Anji that it is a shame to lose such a skilled and devoted doctor. Yes, urge the Orcas Island Health Care District Board and Island Health to review this decision and to hear what their community has to say at orcashealth.org. Does the community get to learn the reason she was let go–the real reason? It’s vital that we have excellent doctors on the island. How sad!
Dr. Manske is the absolute best doctor I have ever had in my 72 years. My health has improved significantly due to her ability to listen and provide solutions. This is a huge loss for the community. Her patients trust her and are grateful to be under her care. I am happy to wait during my appointment because I know that she is treating all of her patients with excellent care. PLEASE don’t do this to our community! In a world gone mad, this is a direct hit to the island’s sense of security. Please reinstate Dr. Manske!
The support for Dr. Manske is huge (over 75 comments on FB Orcas Rant and Rave). The comments all echo the time she spends with patients and the positive effects of the time spent on their health. Many comments remark on diagnoses found that were missed in the past.
I have seen her need to recently use a timer when she comes in to meet with a patient and other patients have noted staff reminding her of the time.
Is Orcas to be relegated to lesser care because of a bottom line? Is that why we no longer have Dr. Manske. No reason has been given.
Apparently it is the Island Hospital Board of Commissioners who delegate hiring responsibility to the Island Hospital CEO who is Elise Cutter. Her email is: ecutter@islandhealth.org. And the Board of Commissioners of who there are several can be reached at one email address which is commissioners@islandhospital.org.
Dr. Manske has gained my trust through who knowledge and compassion and has always had my health as her priority. Why was she
terminated? I think the public should know.
Hi All – I’m sharing this information as the Superintendent for the Orcas Island Health Care District. I’ve tried to respond to most of those on this thread by email, as they have reached out to me. I am sharing this information to ensure that those who do not use Facebook, or who have not reached out directly to the district, know how to share their concerns with Island Health and the Health Care District. Many of you will have already seen this information, as it is the same that I’ve been sharing with those that reached out to the district.
Dr. Simpson-Manske is no longer employed with Island Health as of Tuesday, May 26th. Island Health does not comment on or disclose these personnel matters any further out of respect for the privacy of employees.
If you were scheduled with Dr. Simpson-Manske, the Island Health Team is personally contacting affected patients to assist with transitioning their care to another provider. Community members can call the clinic to discuss scheduling with other providers who are accepting patients at the clinic but calling the clinic will not result in any further information about Dr. Simpson-Manske, due to the personnel nature of the situation.
Both the Health Care District and Island Health have processes to receive feedback from our community. If you would like to share a comment directly to Island Health, you can visit https://islandhealth.org/contact or contact their Quality department at 360.299.1370. If you’d like to share any more information with me or the board of commissioners, I can make sure that your comment you shared via the website is forwarded to our board, or read during our public meeting, although that is not until June 24th. You’re also welcome to call me or stop by our office, although I won’t be able to provide any more information on the matter of Dr. Simpson-Manske’s employment. My contact and our office location information is here -https://www.orcashealth.org/contact-us
Shocked and dismayed. Dr. Manske is the first doctor to take my concerns about health issues seriously and not dismissed because I am a woman of a certain age. The ‘just arthritis’ in my shoulder that spontaneously developed after a bad fall turned out to be a partially torn rotator cuff. It took 18 months and 3 other providers before Dr Manske sent me for an MRI
And a proper diagnosis.
There are numerous other stories I could tell about Dr Manske and her compassionate listening and the time she took to help me. If she was running late I would relax and assume she was giving other patients the same care as she gave me.
This is a huge loss for me personally and for the community at large. I cannot imagine having to begin again with a new doctor, when one is found.
With the limited choices on Orcas for health care and the high turnover at the clinic it is difficult to know where to go from here.
Oak Boesky
Chris: We do understand your position and most folks are simply not ok with the answer we have received. We understand that Dr. Manske is no longer employed by Island Health. We also understand that WA is an “at will” state and that neither Dr. Manske nor the public need to be given a reason.
That said, the community feels that Dr. Manske provided us with a level of care that was exceptional and having received that level of care we are want to accept less. As I’m sure you have read, the number of Dr. Manske patient reported scenarios that resulted in diagnoses previously missed is pretty astonishing. I have additionally spent some hours now reviewing patient ratings for Dr. Manske on multiple sites and have yet to see even one bad review. It’s hard to understand how in any way Dr. Manske has failed to perform.
And so if Dr. Manske’s leaving has anything to do with performance metrics and the time she spent with her patients, the community wants to know. We want to know exactly how Island Hospital proposes to continue providing that level of care because a missed diagnosis may not fly so well anymore since Dr. Manske has elevated our expectations.
We want her back if she is willing to come back.
I am personally not ok with your answer. We deserve to know why, our health is at stake. Telling us that we can reschedule with another physician does not replace the relationship we have with Dr Manske, your “answer” is not satisfactory
I’m willing to go on record as a patient of Dr Simpson-Manske, but not as a cheerleader for her supposed impeccable care. I can’t jump on that wagon of fervent support for entirely personal and health related reasons, but I can 100% and unequivocally state that I stand behind every single one of her patients who feel as if they have been betrayed by the lack of transparency and communication in regards to her ostensible dismissal. While it’s been mentioned that WA is an ‘at-will’ state, there is a world of difference between the uncommunicated employment truncation of- for example only- a grocery store clerk and an esteemed healthcare provider. That this ostensible dismissal, and the ensuing aftermath, unfolded on local social media channels without any notice to the affected patient base ,or even any blank corporate correspondence after the fact, is unforgivable. Island Primary Care and/or the Healthcare District may have reasons for this action. Good if they do. But there was no information, no disclosure, not one tiny bit of communication to the community. We’ll all pay for this..
This sort of highhanded behavior is not new from either island Hospital or the Commissioners.
Time to remember the recent levy and the amount of our tax dollars funding the clinic . We are ALL owed some sort of respectful information in advance,or after the fact. That includes those of us who do not use the clinic for many reasons including their history of turnover, turmoil and “too bad” treatment of patients regarding both unprovided services and inquiries such as appear here.
Over the years our local clinic has let go of several fine physicians I appreciated who then went on to open private practices. Perhaps some other solution can be found to retain this much loved doctor on in island.
I have used most of the practitioners at our clinic except for this one and do want to put a good word in for their caring treatment of my family. However looking at the Island primary care webpage brings up the question of how they plan to care for all of these folks who just lost their doctor. The three PA-C’s, the ARNP and the pediatrician all are accepting new patients but Dr. Bob Wilson is now the only adult doctor and it doesn’t say he’s accepting new patients. I would be interested in hearing if this is a financial strategy to reduce costs. While the PA-C’s have provided me good care when I used them, is only one doctor adequate or are there intentions to hire a replacement? I’m not trying to put a damper on anyone’s efforts to retain this doctor but rather to get a better understanding of the effects that this removal has on the functioning of the clinic.
“Hi all” hardly seems th e appropriate ly sensitive response from the District Superintendent to the degree of concern letter s posted here express.
The bottom line is MDs are supposed to see a certain number of patients per da y to produce x no. of dollars. Elise Cutter, former Island Hospital CFO and now CEO
is simply exacting that formula. Very simple explanation.
The fact that best practice and “do no harm” does not fall within a 15 minute visit is of no consequence. The best MDs know you are not treating the disease ,you are treating the PERSON with the disease. The art is in teasing the clues that lead to accurate diagnosis and, as important,compassionate follow up.
Hard to imagine any prospective providers looking t the turnstile history of caregivers here would want to come and so we take another step down.
Sorry Chris, but we are not quieted by a letter like that.
I am sad about this whole business. Dr Manske was and is obviously well liked here as a compétant and trusted physician. Firing her suddenly without any clear explanation to her patients is shocking to many who have depended on her. It does appear callous, and does not make Orcas a better place.
My only suggestion at this point is: She seems to have a good loyal following here on Orcas, and many like her style of treatment. Talk to her about opening up a private practice or maybe partner with someone to spread expenses?