Orcas Island
Orcas Medical Foundation has announced that it is now in negotiations with University of Washington Neighborhood Clinics, following an announcement by Island Hospital that it would not extend its contract to manage Orcas Medical Center, effective December 31.Orcas Medical Foundation in talks with UW Neighborhood Clinics
“We’re very optimistic about our talks with UW Neighborhood Clinics,” said Catherine Henderson, President of the OMF Board.
UW Neighborhood Clinics is a network of primary and urgent care clinics located throughout the Puget Sound region. UW Neighborhood Clinics is an entity of UW Medicine, which includes Harborview Medical Center, UW Medical Center, UW Physicians, UW School of Medicine and Airlift Northwest – and is allied with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as part of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
The UW Neighborhood Clinics have earned six consecutive excellent accreditation scores for meeting nationally recognized standards of high-quality health care from the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care.
“Island Hospital’s decision was not unexpected,” noted Henderson. “It has been clear in recent communications between Island Hospital and our OMF Board that their expectations and ours were not moving closer together.”
According to Vince Oliver, CEO of Island Hospital, the Island Hospital Board of Commissioners voted to not extend its lease and clinic services agreement with OMF after a review and assessment of Island Hospital’s strategic priorities. The current contract and relationship between OMF and Island Hospital began in 2011.
Lopez Island
Lopez Island Medical Clinic was notified Thursday, Sept. 15 that Island Hospital will discontinue their contract affiliation with the clinic in nine months. Island Hospital president Vince Oliver stated that while the hospital was no longer in a position to continue the partnership, they would commit to a transition plan to support the clinic until June 30, 2017. His announcement was made in a letter to Lopez Clinic and Marty Clark, President of the Catherine Washburn Medical Association.
A brief history
In 1993 Lopez changed from a private practice model (Dr. Dengler was our physician at the time) to collaborate with the hospital. Here’s how it works: The CWMA, the Lopez non-profit formed to support Lopez Clinic, owns the clinic building and everything inside the walls and holds full financial responsibility for the building upkeep, maintenance, expansion and physical improvements. Island Hospital leases the building from the CWMA, pays staff salaries and assumes ultimate responsibility for medical care.
What does the change mean for Lopez Clinic?
Forging a new partnership with a larger hospital is the next step. According to Wilson and Marty Clark, conversations are already underway with interested parties.
Could we lose our clinic?
“The answer to that is no, the clinic is here to stay,” says Wilson. “There are too many good options out there, a lot of interest already being expressed. In the end, the clinic may be even better.”
Are Wilson and Nurse Practitioner Christine Burnell staying?
“Absolutely,” states Wilson.
Who might be our new partner? According to Marty, it’s too early to talk about specifics. “We’ll let the community know as soon as there is something definite. What we can say for sure is people from other facilities want to talk to us. That’s a very good thing.”
Who is the team working on solutions?
Wilson, nurse practitioner Christine Burnell and clinic manager Crystal Rovente are working closely with the CWMA board.
which includes Charlie Janeway, Christa Campbell, Don Poole, Bette Shuh, Sherry Brummel, George LeBoutillier and Edwin Turmulo. Others in the community may become involved over the next few months.
How and when will we find out more?
Regular updates will be posted on the Clinic/CWMA website (www.lopezislandmedical.org), on Lopez Rocks, in Islands Weekly, and Health Matters. A printed update will be available at the clinic when more information is available.
What if people have questions?
Beginning Sept. 26 there will be a place on our website homepage for people to ask questions and have them answered.
“It’s still early in the process,” concludes Marty, “and there is plenty of hard work ahead. What we do know is that Lopez has a history of making things work. With the support of the Lopez community, we will keep our clinic open and improving.”
