Let’s be clear, our Hospital District does not own a hospital. It provides oversight of a reimbursement contract with Peace Health – experts in the hospital business.

The “Hospital District” proposes a levy (in perpetuity) to purchase, own, and operate a nursing home. That it will operate at a loss is a foregone conclusion. District commissioners change often, and none have ever owned or run a healthcare business of any consequence.

The District’s experience with EMS is instructional. They had to settle, at sizable cost, with the State on Medicaid fraud charges and were refused payment by various insurance companies.

Nursing home reimbursement is incredibly meager. Very few can afford a nursing home stay or have long-term care insurance. Medicare doesn’t cover much, leaving Medicaid with very low payment levels once you are destitute. It is nearly an impossible business from an economic perspective, even at scale. Our very small population makes running such a business impossible, with low-wage employees and paying patients scarce.

The acquisition and operation of a nursing home is an unsound decision. “Islands Convalescent Center” closed because they could not make a go of it for the above-mentioned reasons. The owner, Life Care Centers of America, is an expert in nursing home operations and does so at scale. Our hospital District needs to stick to its knitting and should not be allowed to hoist this costly error on the taxpayers.

Mike Gallagher

Friday Harbor