Submitted by the Rotary Club of San Juan Island

Exciting things are happening in San Juan County’s Public Hospital District No. 1, as was recently shared at a Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands meeting. But before Evan Perrollaz shared any news, he first clarified that the Hospital District does not run the Peace Island Hospital. The Hospital District runs San Juan Island EMS and Village at the Harbor.

Perrollaz, who was formerly the Executive Director of Village at the Harbor, was recently hired to build the new home care programs called Village at Home. These programs are aimed at allowing seniors and disabled people to be cared for at home with licensed caregivers. Village at Home is the only licensed home care service in San Juan County.

Ingrid Gabriel, the former San Juan County Council clerk, was hired as the home care coordinator. She explained that to support Village at Home new offices were leased at 535 Market Street, Unit E (the former Sears Store near Heritage Bank). Plans for the new offices include a training/testing center for home healthcare workers and certified nursing assistants because getting to the mainland has proved a financial and logistical barrier to finding skilled healthcare workers in the Islands.

Village at Home, however, now has a stable of qualified workers ready to go. Because the service is licensed, they can accept long-term care insurance but are not planning to offer 24-hour care yet. Village at Home is currently a private pay organization with hopes to offer subsidized or Medicaid within the next year. A home care visit is approximately $55 an hour depending on the service and is charged on a sliding scale depending on the recipient’s ability to pay.

Perrollaz’s PowerPoint also included draft drawings of the proposed expansion of the Village at the Harbor assisted living facility. The current plan shows a new wing built above the current parking area. Parking would essentially remain where it is. The new wing would add up to 24 new units including 10 to 15 additional Medicaid units. Currently, Village at the Harbor has five Medicaid units and 31 regular units in its existing facility.

Anna Lisa Lindstrom, Hospital District Board President, showed a preliminary drawing of the Healthcare Workforce housing to be built between the EMS building and Franklin Drive. The planned housing will make it easier to attract local workers for the hospital and give medical specialists who come from the mainland a place to stay.

Perrollaz also shared photos of the newly and beautifully remodeled Village at the Harbor assisted living facility. He shared that his mother is a resident there and said, “It’s the only place in the country I would have her stay.”

Interested in joining the Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands? The above is an example the interesting speakers Rotary attracts. Check out the website https://portal.clubrunner.ca/1358 Breakfast Meetings are held at 8 a.m. on Wednesdays at the San Juan Island Yacht Club, come check it out.