What’s new at Island Primary Care?

||| FROM ISLAND PRIMARY CARE |||

Robert Wilson, M.D.

We are excited to announce the arrival of our new provider, Robert Wilson, MD on March 7.

Dr. Wilson is a regionally-based board certified family medicine physician. He has over 25 years of primary care and urgent care experience in a rural clinic setting and is looking forward to moving to Orcas, from our neighboring Lopez Island. Welcome Dr. Wilson!

Medical Assistant Certification Pilot Program
The nationwide shortage of nurses combined with housing shortages and our remote, island setting have impacted our access to medical assistant staffing. In order to address this challenge, Island Primary Care – Orcas will build a program where Registered Medical Assistants can train and work in the clinic and attend a college program to receive a Medical Assistant Certification. Once it is fully developed and tested, the pilot program will be used throughout Island Health System to continue developing staff from within our community and region. If you’re interested in training as a medical assistant, please contact Human Resources by visiting our website at www.islandhealth.org/careers.

Courtesy Labs at Island Primary Care – Orcas
Island Primary Care – Orcas is happy to facilitate lab orders for an outside provider. There are several items to note when we process labs from providers outside of Island Health.
A current order must be brought in or faxed to our office at 360.466.6139 for phlebotomist review. There are some uncommon orders we may not be able to fulfill due to supply availability or special processing.
All lab appointments are scheduled from 8 a.m.–1 p.m. The specimens are flown by plane each afternoon to a courier and then brought to the Island Health laboratory.
For courtesy labs, we function as a “draw facility” only; however, the results will appear in your patient portal.
Test results that are ordered by an outside provider will also be communicated to the patient by the outside provider as they are in charge of the information in your care plan. The ordering provider, or their staff, are responsible for communicating the results of the tests ordered for you, not Island Primary Care – Orcas.
Lab result times vary; each test requires different amounts of time to process. For example, a COVID tests takes a few hours to process and upload once received by the Island Health lab, but a urine culture will need several days to show bacteria growth, appearing in the patient portal several days after the COVID results.

Welcome Marcy Shimada
Island Primary Care – Orcas welcomes our new Practice Administrator, Marcy Shimada. Marcy joins our team with extensive experience in medical group management spanning Wisconsin, California, and Washington. Her career has also included management positions with health plans (PacifiCare and Aetna). Her most recent primary care team she worked with won national awards for quality in diabetic care and recognition in the state for patient experience. Marcy states, “I am excited about the focus on serving the community and look forward to bringing the employed practices of Island Health together.”

Patty Codd is now in the role of Director of Result Management. In this role, Patty will continue to work with our clinic teams in the areas of Quality, Population Health, Service Excellence, and Community partners and programs. This new role will allow focused attention to these areas that directly impact the experience of our patients, providers, and staff.

Health Education March Offerings
Health Education classes with Island Health continue to be offered online at this time. All online classes are free and require registration unless specifically stated in the class description. Any health screenings that Island Health is currently offering take place on our main campus in Anacortes.

If you have questions, please call the Health Education department for more information: 360.299.4204. View Our Current Class Offerings

• Grief & Loss
  Presented by Hospice of the NW
• Balance Screening
  On our main campus
• Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy
• Healthy Digestion
• Improving Your Aging Memory
• Living Better with Diabetes
• Living Well with COPD
• Healthy Coping Skills
  Paul S. Hammer, MD
• Grand-parenting 101

Stay Tuned for our One Year Anniversary Celebration!
April 5th is a big day for Island Primary Care – Orcas, our one-year anniversary of serving our community. We are working on a fun celebration to show our appreciation to our patients, staff and community. Stay tuned for more details!