Appendix H – An invitation for general comments.
Entering a word or phrase in the search area will filter the entries, showing only those that match. The “Provider” column shows where the commenter goes for their primary care. If you click on the column header where it says “Provider,” you can sort the list by that column.
| Provider | Comments |
|---|---|
| UW Clinic | we have not needed much in the way of health care because we seemed to be quite healthy, but now at 88 and 89 we will probably start wearing out and needing more. We hope you can get this figured out soon!!! |
| UW Clinic | The bureaucracy involved in dealing with an institution as big as the UW is enormous. It is unresponsive by its very size, laden with rules that hinder communication, and rule driven. I wish we could do away with it had deal with an organization more appropriately sized and focused for our small, eclectic community. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | We would really like to see Dr. Vincent Shu made a part of the Medical providers on this Island! He is so imminently qualified & certified in many medical areas and such a treasure to have available on Orcas!! |
| An Off-Island provider | Your definition of primary care is confusing. As stated, it could be interpreted to include specialist care (e.g., cardiology, neurology, etc.), as opposed to internal medicine or family practice. This distinction is critical to evaluating the reasonableness of wait times for appointments and other access considerations. Furthermore, we are a rural area and it is unreasonable to expect urban level services. Primary care is important, but expecting the community to pay for the same access as one might have in a city is not reasonable. |
| UW Clinic | You're doing the hard work and we sincerely appreciate it. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | You are doing a good job. Keep(as this survey reflects) the focus on care. Be wary of administrative creep. Keep a critical eye on the UW. Tho okay for urban/suburban it may not be the best fit for rural health care with our unusually seasonal flow. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | You have a confounder in your questionnaire. The above question requires an answer about real estate value on property. The question before that includes whether one is a renter or an owner. Being that I am a renter I cannot answer the final question. This is a confounder. I answered zero dollars but it is still and issue and that you cannot complete the survey unless you answer something, even if it is erronious and false. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | You need to write this survey to include questions about all practices. I'm at OIFC now BECAUSE OF problems at the Medical Center. Also, my son is seen at Peace Island because local practices can't give allergy shots (they need to be able to provide emergency care in case of anaphylactic reaction). So we have an 8 hour roundtrip --missing school--just for an allergy shot. Luckily, staff at Peace Island is so caring and competent we just moved his primary care there. His acute stuff is seen at Shinstrom's. In past, when he was having a allergic reaction, Medical Center once turned him away because he didn't have an appointment! And we were registered patients there! Not smart when you have a kid with known allergies with potential for anaphylaxis presenting acutely. That's just one of many situations that caused us to leave OMC. Drs were generally all great (and we saw many there since the 1980s), but clinic poorly run. Waiting to see if UW will run it any better. Doesn't sound like it yet... |
| An Off-Island provider | Would be nice if there was some kind of independent insurance available to islanders so we can access care here...the simple stuff: check-ups, tests, colds, maybe a broken bone, etc. Unfortunately, no island providers are in my network so I *have* to go off island. |
| An Off-Island provider | Would like to see more realistic and sustainable staffing ratio and work demands at the UW Clinic |
| UW Clinic | With public financing of primary and acute care all supported practices must be consolidated to avoid duplicative overhead costs. Absolutely no expansion of supported services beyond primary and acute care should be considered. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Word needs to be conveyed that the Fire Department is for Emergent care only, not acute or routine care. |
| UW Clinic | With patience and flexibility on the part of all parties we should be able to make this relationship work. Your job isn't easy but it is appreciated. Thank you! |
| An Off-Island provider | Willing to pay more for better service ESPECIALLY for emergencies and acute care |
| An Off-Island provider | With 5000 full time population and 10000-15000 summer population we need facility similar to Peace Health in Friday Harbor. We need a patron to build such a facility. Oprah? Bill Gates? Others? |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | willing to have first category of health care available Mon-Sat from 10-3 rather than 9- 5, so that acute (non-emergency) care hours can be also seen during those times |
| UW Clinic | Will the commissioners look at how many face to face hours with patients each doctor at the UW clinic provides per week? |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Why didn't you ask how people who are taking the survey felt about the care they receive at the UW clinic? |
| Orcas Family Health Center | We, somehow, need afterhours/weekend providers available |
| UW Clinic | Well-paid practitioners are happy practitioners. But don't go overboard with that. |
| UW Clinic | We need urgent care on the island. Islanders shouldn't have to travel off island for stitches or for minor fractures. It seems like the doctors in the past offered more options for care, saving islanders money and time. |
| UW Clinic | We would like to have a clinic that is staffed with solid and responsive professionals, capable to perform simple medical procedures without bureaucratic handicap outside the now customary paperwork.. |
| An Off-Island provider | We would consider living on island full time if adequate medical care was available. We are older and need to know there is someone available outside of regular hours if needed. |
| An Off-Island provider | We voted for the 'hospital district' and not for an open license to jack up taxes. Ours have already increased about 30% in the last few years. If having a service makes the island less affordable to older people, how valuable is the service? Health insurance costs are already insane (our insurance just renewed @ an 11% increase). With deductibles & copays, the insurer doesn't really cover us until we are out of pocket over $42,000. The commissioners don't need to make this situation worse by layering on more frosting. |
| UW Clinic | We need to ensure that all the members of our community have access to primary and urgent care including after-hours urgent care in a financially sustainable manner now and in the future. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | We need to get this right. I think its important to come up with a realistic number that addresses the priorities - not a number that falls short; as that approach, I feel, will only erode the community's confidence. I believe that the community wants to see adequate care for those of us who live here full time and part time. Our economy depends on "part timers" - be they homeowners or tourists. |
| An Off-Island provider | We need to invest in health care, both for ourselves as islanders who live here, but also for our guests and visitors, whose health while here is important to them, and ultimately to our commercial livelihood. |
| UW Clinic | We already pay for after hours emergency care! We live on an island...not downtown Seattle! |
| An Off-Island provider | We are really supporters of "Medicare for All" realizing that this is not socialized medicine. In the case of Orcas I am not sure with the service really having a tax base while our off island basic medical institution is a privately owned clinic. The hospital is also privately owned, different from the clinic which we use, In fact they are competitors. But our insurance permits us to choose between them depending in the specific type of care we are seeking. I would hope that a single payer system would greatly assist the medical program for residents, full and part time, as well as those who are visitors to the islands. |
| UW Clinic | We need medical care 24/7 consistent medical care, on Orcas island, period. Increase taxes but with those funds, apply them directly and specifically to the above noted needed functions. Do not dilute or interrupt the applied purpose~medical care. We are primarily an aging community, desiring to live, in place. When friends or family visit, they may need to be seen, as well. 24/7, on island. |
| UW Clinic | We need stability in our clinic. There is a lot of angst surrounding maintaining the UW clinic. The sooner we can have some sort of permanent plan for the clinic the better. We need acute care for everyone - again at least a plan very soon. We need to have our tourists foot some of the bill. Tax on rental fees? A medical membership fee??? A campaign urging visitors to donate to a health care fund? Considering the number of tourists we should not expect the property owners ( who live on their property) to carry the entire healthcare burden. And a quality health system is needed for the tourism industry as well. |
| UW Clinic | We need after hours care. |
| UW Clinic | We need after hours care. I would support funding for Orcas Fire and Rescue to have, use and be trained to use diagnostic equipment (ultrasound, x-ray machine, etc.) to be used after hours. Then there should be a way for EMTs to Skype with doctors off island. Again, I don't have much faith in the UW clinic. I truly believe we have worst care than we had a full year ago. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | We need health care available outside 9-5 M-F. I can't even figure out how to visit the UW medical clinic. So unnecessarily complicated, why??? Dumb system!! |
| Orcas Family Health Center | We have a financially fragile and also an increasingly elder community. In these fiscal considerations, it is important to remember that all members of this community are equally deserving of quality health care, and that this practice does ultimately benefit all involved. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | We have more than adequate health care on Orcas currently for a population our size. If you want to support something, support the EMTs and provide free medflight for citizens and visitors. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | We feel that it is extremely important for residents to have access to after hours urgent care when needed. |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | We choose to live on an island and know some services are not available. Our focus needs to be on stabilizing critical care patients and getting them to a full-service medical center. Not trying to avoid the need for off-island travel for non-life threatening conditions. We also need to cut ties with UW and join with Peace Health because most of us would rather get our specialist care and lab work done in Bellingham. The whole UW mess does not meet the smell test/ |
| UW Clinic | Thank you for your service! |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Thank you for your work! |
| UW Clinic | Thanks for asking. |
| UW Clinic | Thanks for doing the survey! |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Thanks for sorting this out. I hope the increased health care that results from this new tax will go to improving the basics...allowing residents to obtain quality and constant primary and acute care on the island |
| UW Clinic | we absolutely need 24/7 coverage by a rotating on call group of doctors. There are too many people here now that are not used to taking care of themselves indipendantly or dont have the means to go off island on their own during emergencies. Having raised two kids here, seen emergencies on the job and heard many stories for 35 years, the medical problems we have as a community dont just occur 9-5 Monday through Friday. and when we have all our visitors in the summer it gets really crazy- lots of drinking and partying- weddings etc.. and those people need help also. We are humans, not robots that can program our emergencies to a certain schedule,. |
| UW Clinic | Very disappointed with the current system under UW. Can't understand, with additional staff, it is now way more difficult to get an appointment. Also feel rushed when there for an appointment. Not happy! |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | Wait time for routine procedures such as a blood draw takes at least two weeks. To long! |
| UW Clinic | UW should take into consideration that we have no other options. This can be exploited and "hold us hostage" in their decisions OR they can listen and take our unique situation (island-bound) into consideration in making decisions. |
| An Off-Island provider | UW's appointment system sending me to Ballard or Kenmore is unacceptable. So I go to Bellingham. |
| UW Clinic | UW needs to actually implement changes based on our feedback, please. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | UW has received quite a bit of donations to keep their doors open. OFHC has received (although greatly appreciated) a fraction from the community. OFHC does operate as a rural health care facility/non-profit, serving the entire population of: insured, under-insured, and uninsured. The island cannot operate with only one health care facility. But, with the passing of the PHD, both clinics need to be receiving tax dollars and subsidies equally to meet the needs of patients. |
| UW Clinic | UW seems to add a level of expense that is not necessary. The Neighborhood Clinic model may workwell in a community with access to hospitals and minute clinics. We don't have that. They are using the EMS system to fill the gap. That is not a fair use of the many volunteers serving OIFR. If UW will not step into afterhours care, we need to look at another provider. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | UW is inappropriate for ur community. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | UW is not a provider nor are their preferred specialists a part of my Kaiser Insurance so their presence on the island doesnt help me |
| UW Clinic | Two clinics on this small island presents an unacceptable cost, OFHC should not receive a subsidy, There will be "healthcare for all? at the UW clinic, |
| An Off-Island provider | Uncertainty is the biggest issue right now so I have yo keep my protection off island, I've Gone to the same place for 53 years to date |
| An Off-Island provider | This is a rural area. It does not have the population to justify the same health care facilities as the mainland. The decision to live on Orcas Island must be made with the understanding that there cannot be he same level of health services provided as there is on the mainland. We have experienced two acute medical emergencies on island. We are very grateful for the prompt professional response(s). But we schedule all of our lab testing, vaccinations, visits to primary care and specialists on the mainland. We feel that frees up the limited resources on the island for those who do not have the ability/flexibility to go off island for care. We are concerned that our property taxes will continue to increase to pay for health care that we are not using. And now being on a fixed income we will have to give up our island home. |
| UW Clinic | UW (not physicians) has to realize an island is different than their normal city clinics. More personal and word of mouth is important. |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | UW has not been cooperative with Friday Harbor peace hospital. We need cooperative, service to delivering good healthcare to all here...and, emergency care for visitors and guests. |
| An Off-Island provider | This survey should prove enormously valuable. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | To suggest 60 cents only gets what we've got is not reasonable - we are already being taxed excessively and still dependent on the generosity of the wealthy residents |
| Orcas Family Health Center | This past year I found there is very little at-home care for lower-income seniors. This care, based on ability to pay, concerns me. |
| UW Clinic | This medical services saga is like a long running soap opera. Hear this: if everyone (property owners) is paying into the support of the system, everyone must also be served by it. If all medical providers are going to receive benefit from the tax revenues, all providers must share the burden for after-hours services (be the doctor on call). We've already put a lot of $$ into this transition, now we've agreed to a tax district, and the tax commissioners and service providers need to get their act together. Its a small island and medical consumers shouldn't have to support redundant facilities or services because the medical suppliers aren't cooperating with each other. |
| UW Clinic | The UW medical is great. Just needs some $$$$$$$ and love. |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | There is an opportunity to create a new vision of healthcare access, however the commission seems to be looking only at "business-as-usual" scenarios. Do research into alternative options. Also research what is already required by state law and insurance contract. There is no need to re-invent the wheel: there are many creative people out in the medical world who have successfully utilized alternative models which result in better patient care, better lifestyle for the physicians and other health care workers, and do not break the bank. |
| UW Clinic | the fire dept should not be an ER, it should not require 24 hour staffing just in case. |
| UW Clinic | The island would not suffer much from having NO primary care locally. The thing that should have been voted on and that we actually need is acute care. |
| An Off-Island provider | The tendency to undertake obligations for health care guarantees is really dangerous. Impossible to predict or control costs. Not what we were told before election. |
| An Off-Island provider | The responses that my neighbor received for her health care on Orcas have been terrible. No patient with acute medical problems should be treated the way that she was. I,too, am a health care provider and the treatment she received goes against all medical oaths. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | The fire department is being over run by simple 911 calls that providers should handle |
| UW Clinic | The cost of the visit at UW is outrageous, it's approximately $7+/minute to have the dr. in the room and they never mention their costs. unlike any other profession. so it's deceiving to feel like they care about us and are spending extra time to get to know us and small chat and then get the bill. Also all the diff. billing loops, knowing what words you choose when you present an issue can cost you nothing extra or cost plenty extra, depending on what code is entered...so any information that helps educate the consumers of health care would be an amazing move forward to putting the power more into the consumer and equalizing this mysterious dynamic of billing and insurances. |
| UW Clinic | The bureaucracy involved in dealing with an institution as big as the UW is enormous. It is unresponsive by its very size, laden with rules that hinder communication, and rule driven. I wish we could do away with it had deal with an organization more appropriately sized and focused for our small, eclectic community. |
| UW Clinic | The after hours situation on Orcas is very dangerous. EMTs are we'll trained and responsive but the lack of emergency access to an on call doctor is a horrible situation for life security of living on an island. A RELIABLE on call doctor should be a critical point addressed by the commissioners! |
| UW Clinic | The biggest acute and chronic health crisis facing Orcas Island is drug and alcohol use. The island needs a detox bed or two and 24-hour on-call mental health professionals. Calling a Compass Health 1-800 number is totally worthless when someone is in a mental health crisis (often times precipitated by drug use). This issue must be confronted by our community, with options for PHD funds to provide some financial support. Hopefully, this can be discussed in year 2. |
| An Off-Island provider | thank you for everything you do to help solve this complex issue. It seems that most needs for my family require a trip off-island. It would be nice to have a pediatrician on staff. It will be important to support insurance from the healthcare exchange. |
| UW Clinic | Thank you for stepping up and taking this on. It is important and requires all your expertise and patience long term. |
| UW Clinic | Thank you for taking on this task. We just want good fair health coverage. |
| An Off-Island provider | Thank you for your diligence and competence, as exhibited in the recent public meeting briefing! |
| An Off-Island provider | Thank you for allowing input, we are looking forward to the improved and stable long term care that we think is vital and that the District can provide. |
| UW Clinic | Shortening the wait time for an appointment would really be helpful! |
| UW Clinic | shouldn't have to call more than 1 docs office here to get an acute care appt... already a patient at UWclinic and post wee hour EMS call, I had to fight my way into an appt that led to an airlift off. shouldn't be like that for anyone. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Thank you all for your time and dedication. |
| UW Clinic | Thank you and the UW Clinic for your care and efforts. |
| UW Clinic | Thank you for all the time you are spending trying to sort this out for our community. Though I am in good health and rarely need to access health care, I find it very disconcerting to have our medical system in such disarray. |
| An Off-Island provider | Scheduling is impersonal, access continues to be a problem, individual physician wait times are inconsistent, referals are delayed, follow-up calls are delayed, administrative staf often defensive and don't communicate desire to problem solve and reassure the patient. |
| UW Clinic | Seeking funding besides property taxes should be part of your agenda. Possibly part of the B and O taxes. Having health care available for our visitors is just as important as having county bathrooms. |
| UW Clinic | Thank you all for your thoughtful work. |
| Other On-Island provider | thank god i'm pretty healthy WHAT HELP 4 MENTAL SITUATIONS /? I'VE HAD GOOD EXPERIENCES ON ORCAS Bless all those who are working to improve health opportunities 4 us here WE NEED LONGER TERM RESIDENCES FOR DISABLED AND ELDERLY ASSISTED LIVING ET C as a care giver i was well aware of huge needs for at least temporary residences at least we used to have one on sSan Juan What can U do PLEASE !!!!!! |
| An Off-Island provider | Stop taxing me outa my home |
| UW Clinic | Since the clinic has been here my health care has been dropped. I am not happy with the time it takes to get services. |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | Since UW took over everything is much more expensive, and less personal. I am considering other alternatives off island via the internet. |
| UW Clinic | Rural medicine presents challenges not experienced in urban centers. Specifically, we need to be able to provide after hours care on an as-needed basis, lab draw services, among others. |
| An Off-Island provider | Scheduling at UW is a nightmare. Please convince UW to make all scheduling clinic-centric rather than running us through an operating system that serves 300 clinics (or so I was told). |
| UW Clinic | Reputation of UW is deteriorating rapidly. Do they want to fail do they can get out? We are piling a lot of money into this, expect more results. We want medical professionals who live here, know us and are accessibke |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Responsiveness to the needs of the island are most important to me including especially interactions with specialists on the mainland. Refusal of service for any reason is unacceptable. |
| UW Clinic | Please talk to the nurses in the back on their attitudes. At least if we cant get in try and be friendly about it. |
| UW Clinic | Please train the reception desk to treat everyone like their family member... with great respect and loving care. (like the staff at UWMC and SCC) Please send referrals ASAP. |
| UW Clinic | Primary care is vital to our community. With EMS, emergency services and some types of acute care are also available. I'm concerned with those who are already "living on the edge" of taxes on their homes. We need to make sure quality primary care is covered as indicated in my answers above at the start. Perhaps as cost savings occur, some acute services could be added in the future. Prefer not trying to do it all - need to get the system functioning first. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Q17 is problematic, as I am intersex. The survey forces me to answer it anyways, but my answer is incorrect. |
| UW Clinic | Question 13 is terrible. List the names of the primary care docs that are at each facility. The old names of Shinstrom's clinic and Russel's clinic were so close that they were virtually interchangeable. Is Russel now at the "UW" clinic? If so, I answered that question correctly. |
| UW Clinic | Questions 20 and 21 show bias, and can be used to say, "oh well, these don't own property, therefore they should not be allowed to say whether the rest of us should pay taxes for their health care." I am originally from PA where property taxes are 10 times higher than on Orcas Island, yet the richest people here cry about parting with a couple hundred a year for million dollar properties. SJC has the highest income disparity in the state of Washington; I don't understand the need to ask income questions in this survey. Everyone deserves health care. |
| UW Clinic | Please do not make the healthy & the wealthy cover the cost for the rest of the island. This is exactly why the general public dislikes this process. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Please don't panic. We are living in a remote place, and will never have all the amenities of a small city or town on the mainland, nor do we need to feel that the services at our fingertips are inadequate. The existing system works pretty well for your average household, let's focus on making sure that the existing infrastructure is adequately funded and pause there. We don't need all kinds of added services, and that's not what we voted in a tax raise to provide. |
| UW Clinic | Please find a way to merge the clinics. Have the OFHC staff teach the UW staff how to interact with the public. |
| UW Clinic | Please keep it SIMPLE and AFFORDABLE. I live on an island and cannot expect the same assess to medical services as I would have on the mainland. We have an incredibly good medivac helicopter service when it is needed. That should suffice. If anyone wants something better they should move near to a mainland hospital. |
| UW Clinic | Please take a strong stand with UW. They need to deliver the full array of health care that residents and visitors need. As it stands, what they aren't providing creates a burden that falls on OIFD to fill. We are paying - via property taxes - for both providers. There should be some equity in terms of funding, vs services delivered. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Paying off debts to UoW does not make health care better on Orcas. |
| UW Clinic | People want to live on Orcas for its natural beauty, low population density, etc. but they want big city amenities. One can't have it both ways. |
| UW Clinic | Phone wait times at UW clinic are too long. Appreciated service at UW. I switched from Shinstrom's and I'm very glad I did. |
| An Off-Island provider | Please be aware that home values are increasing. This will increase revenue. But has the potential to tax our fixed income population out of their homes. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Please be caring and compassionate. Healthcare isnt only for those that can afford it or own taxable property. |
| An Off-Island provider | Please consider exploring UW residents providing care as part of the UW Family Practice program. This could be a win win for all, increasing care, minimizing costs and providing educational opportunity. |
| UW Clinic | Patience. There is a cranky component of the island |
| UW Clinic | Our new value arrived last week and it was $507,000 so we're really on the low end of a high survey question. Maybe more breakdown categories would give a truer real estate taxable picture. I understand you're taking on a large and very important task. My thanks to you all. I'm also sure procedures and problems will straighten out in the near future. |
| UW Clinic | Our Commissioners are doing and INCREDIBLE job!! Kudos to each for caring so much for their fellow islanders. |
| UW Clinic | One clinic uses as a marketing point that they will provide treatment with little or no payment. They claim having a procedure for determining "ability to pay" but to my knowledge it is unaudited. When the cost of this is paid by existing patients or philanthropy that's fine. Now this cost will be dumped into the subsidy claim. This is the first step for Orcas toward our own single payer health care system. What is the documented and public policy and practice for OIHCD manage and transparently report on this? |
| UW Clinic | Our home is currently in escrow and one of the main reasons we put it up for sale is the lack of urgent care on the island. We are getting to the age where living on an remote island without quick assess to medical help it is not prudent. |
| An Off-Island provider | Orcas enjoys increased tourism and we need adequate medical services. Also, with improved infrastructure in health care we will make it possible for families with children as well as the elderly to reside here. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | On-island Acute care services are of utmost import! |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Only fund one clinic on the island -- if people want a number of doctors to choose from, they can get on a ferry |
| UW Clinic | My primary is UW. I've been in to see my prinary for severe neck/back/shoulder pain. A body worker suggested I might need an x-ray. I can get in to see someone at UW sometime next week or I can go to Dr. Shinstrom and get seen 2 days from now. If i need a cortisone shot, that can be done far sooner at Shinstrom's. The wait times and the lack of aggressive patient care at UW ends with mediocre (but well intended) care. QC has gone down with UW. |
| An Off-Island provider | No more extra taxes please! |
| An Off-Island provider | Nothing is more important for our community than health care! |
| An Off-Island provider | On demand' acute and emergency care are critical to us. We do use an app (provided by our insurance) to talk to a doctor online first, but would like to have access to a live doctor if needed after the call or if the EMS team needs help. |
| UW Clinic | Need interim planning and long term planning. Only need one clinic that can include any qualified practitioner practice. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | My friends and clients like UW medical staff but find wait times & lack of access horrible |
| UW Clinic | My home is 30 years old, so we are not part of the wealthy moving in here, but labored hard at construction, building our own home, and gaining experience, then building others to sell, in order to live in this place and raise our kids here. The values have gone up, but our income has gone down upon retirement and infirmity. The taxes have gone up and up and up far faster than anything else on the island. It is tragic that people have to leave, because others (in many cases, wealthy) raise taxes for services that they are not willing to pay to acquire, forcing the rest of us to pay for what they want. Go back to a private clinic. The costs should be paid by the people using it. Back in the day we came here, the cost was a fraction of what it is now, despite the community raising money for the medical center and the low rent for the annual use of the facility. The monetary profile given us before election just does not make sense. |
| UW Clinic | My husband and I are considering leaving Orcas solely based on the unreliability of access to health care when we may need it. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | My husband uses the UW system. Their referrals are complicated. Involve more driving and longer waiting than those I have found for myself and approved by OFHC. |
| UW Clinic | Most islanders are fine with paying higher taxes to get access to more healthcare, but if the money is simply going to UW's bottom line then it will not have been worth it. |
| UW Clinic | Much thanks to the commissioners for what they are doing for us! |
| UW Clinic | My biggest request is that we get a comprehensive plan to cover the gaps in current health coverage. 1) No community medicine (follow up post surgery, pre-appointment, wellness, medication changes). See what patients can be safely treated outside of 911 system that are currently treated by 911. Also which could have avoided a 911 call with a post discharge, house call. 2) Have qualified technicians come in on scheduled days to do x-rays, etc. 3) Have support and continuity for hospice services 4) a portion of the district funds to go to innovative preventive health in the schools, senior center and community. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | More access and not being blackmailed over costs. Islands are not Seattle and should not be treated the same. Our needs are different. |
| UW Clinic | Most advanced care can be and is likely to be done on the mainland. Orcas Island needs only to provide basic medical care and be able to deal with emergency care as an off island activity after stabilization. We are a small community and cannot and should not try to support more medical care than is necessary. Decisions need to be based on "what is" and not "what if?". There is no end to the "what if?" scenario. |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | Lack of communication very frustrating. On one occasion, one of the physicians forgot to call in a prescription. The phone system is very cumbersome. Wouldn't it be effective to call the clinic and be assured that one was talking to a local person? In spite of these negative comments, I wholeheartedly support the clinic and want it to succeed. We need first-rate primary care on the island, and aim more than willing to pay for it. |
| UW Clinic | Looking forward, appreciatively. |
| UW Clinic | Longer waits for scheduled (non-acute) MD appointments is an acceptable trade-off for night/weekend acute care. |
| UW Clinic | Living on Orcas can be dicey in an emergency especially as you age. We appreciate that this is being remedied an gives us peace |
| UW Clinic | Like the security and convience of having UW here. |
| UW Clinic | Like I mentioned before decent health is provided by decent communication. The biggest issue I have had is just trying to get an appointment. I would rather use the medical center as a source of medical treatment, but when you can never get ahold of someone via phone it makes this basic system (yes, with just normal hours of operation) frustrating and unsuccessful. I would rather spend my tax money to help get a real person (on this island and not a secondary (outsourced) answering system) to answer the phone. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Last year I was unable to obtain a fasting blood draw on the island, and had to go to the mainland. My mainland cardiologist was using a lab that was not available to the OFHC, and the UW Clinic would not take me because I was not an established patient there. I was fasting at the time, and had to go the mainland for a 10 minute procedure. |
| UW Clinic | Keep up the good work. Let's get a hospital in the plans! |
| UW Clinic | Keep up the great work! You've taken a lot of flak from the community, I believe in part because many people fear change, and of course resent improvement comes with a cost. I greatly value what you have done and are doing to bring excellence in health care to Orcas Island. Thank you. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | just want to ensure good health care is available to all island residents and visitors regardless of their ability to pay. |
| UW Clinic | It's not our fault if UW medicine is financially unprepared to conduct the rural medicine on orcas. UW misrepresented their situation. Also do not appreciate the hard nosed? We'll show them? attitude of the administrators. We expect personal contact and resent the mindless bureaucratic indifference of the central phone number appointment system. I also has a friend who was having a heart attack and waited 2 hours in the waiting room to see his doctor to find out. Really? Yes really. Do better |
| An Off-Island provider | I've been flown off the island with afib. I've had kidney stones in the middle of the night when I could not get a doctor to assist me. It is time that we have good medical care. This problem has gone on for to long. I'm selling my home because of not having reliable emergency care other then the fire dept. My insurance company paid $26,000.00 to fly me to Providence in Everett. I have to beg the head doctor at Orcas Medical to come in to give me pain medication for a Kidney Stone so I could wait until the next morning to go off Island to be scene. |
| UW Clinic | I've worked incredible hard to build up equity in my life and to buy a house here on the island. I don't understand why property owners get asked to pay for everything and non property owners basically don't.. ( know the argument that property taxes costs get passed on to everyone, but they really don't) I ask why this healthcare Hospital district isn't being paid for by a special option sales tax. That way everyone pays their part. Non Property owners, Tourists.. everyone. Everyone needs healthcare. I know that's water under the bridge for the current situation, but as I see talk about additional funding for more services, now should be the time to talk about sales tax, NOT more property taxes. AND as a final comment If I knew then what I know now I'd have voted NO on the current Levy. The Dr Russell office was much more patient friendly that UW clinic is.. by far.. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | INSURANCE is the biggest issue (I know this isn't what the questionaire is about. |
| UW Clinic | It is a good thing that you are asking for public input. |
| UW Clinic | It is hard to get in for appointment AND hold down a full time job. Having early morning or after hours (early evening) appointment options is critical. |
| An Off-Island provider | It is ridiculous that none of the providers at Orcas UW Primary Care will do office skin lesion removal....for as long as I've seen doctors that is a primary care task and not something that required specialty referral. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | It takes too long to have refills of medications which have to be called in from Rays. Evan when I give the office 5 days I often run out. post dated Rx 4 times a year might fix this. |
| UW Clinic | It seems between the clinic, Peace Island and OIFR the island has pretty good health care options. |
| UW Clinic | It is vitally important to have after hours care available to residents & visitors of Orcas, as well as adequate office hours/providers. EMS will not be able to continue to effectively sustain the call volume due to people being referred to the fire station because there are no providers to care for them! This is occurring more frequently, both during office hours and after hours. |
| An Off-Island provider | In my experience, it is difficult to get past the front desk and talk to a nurse. Sometimes waiting many days for a referral. NOt good medical care |
| An Off-Island provider | In Summer months there are many over 65 people it would be good to have more health professionals on duty. |
| An Off-Island provider | Important for young families to have health care on island. & others too. |
| An Off-Island provider | imperative to be available weekends and holidays. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I'm a renter but the value ofthe property I rent is just under $300,000. I know the cost would be added on to my rent as rent increase. |
| UW Clinic | IMO, getting to see a provider when you are actually ill or injured (not life-threatening) without having to go off-island is the biggest reason to have a clinic at all. Primary care is great, but if I had to I could make a trip to Anacortes to see a provider. Acute care ("urgent care") obtainable locally is VITAL. Sick people should not have to go off-island for an antibiotic; people in pain should not have to wait for M-F 9-5; and folks with sudden problems should not have to wait for so long that a bladder infection (for instance) gets worse. |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | If we are to be taxed for HEALTH care, then I want access to professionals that promote health and are not just pills and knives (allopathic). Access to a naturopath, accupuncturist, massage therapist and a nutritionist are MORE important to me and my family than AMA doctors. Acute/emergency care is the one area where western medicine does shine and having a PA or doctor available to stitch up wounds, set simple fractures and to do in-person triage to determine if a citizen's condition warrants going to the hospital, is also important to me. And take UW out of the name; it's OUR clinic, not the University of Washington's! |
| UW Clinic | I would like to see more follow up by the clinic |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I would prefer to support family-centered practices over large corporate-type health providers like UW Clinics, which so far have not shown much understanding of the health care needs of a small island community |
| UW Clinic | I'd like UW to improve its customer service - be more accessible, reduce wait times when I arrive for appointments, and also reduce the number of days I have to wait to get an appointment. |
| An Off-Island provider | I'd love to see a reputable naturopath at one of the clinics. I would also like to be able to see a traditional doctor without a long wait if I'm dealing with something serious. |
| An Off-Island provider | If it is possible, it would be fantastic to have urgent care available on island, especially during hours when we there is no ferry service to obtain care elsewhere. |
| UW Clinic | I wnat to be able to contact Orcas UW clinic directly. |
| UW Clinic | I would encourage a merging of the two clinics to attempt improve the efficiency of one office instead of two! |
| UW Clinic | i would like simple labs to be able to be done through the UW clinic in Eastsound, rather than having to schedule and travel off-island to do this. |
| UW Clinic | I would like the commissioners to consider putting more emphasis on prevention. 80% of our healthcare dollars are spent on chronic diseases (obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancers) that are largely preventable due to lifestyle factors. Addressing this would reduce the need for local healthcare visits - that would reduce the burden and cost to taxpayers. I have some ideas if you are willing to listen. |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | I would like to be able to see the same primary care provider each visit, year after year. In other words, continuity of care. To date (12 year resident) I have been seen by a different provider most visits due to unacceptable turnover at the clinic. |
| An Off-Island provider | I would like to have a local primary care doctor but I will not until there is a stable good choice. My primary care doctors in Seattle at the Polyclinic and Swedish respond rapidly via email to questions, rx refills and they use technology for the convenience of the patient. If Camille Fleming is practicing at OIMC, I may consider selecting her as my primary care doc. |
| UW Clinic | I've attended a few meetings and personally am not impressed nor am I confident the commissioners have the ability to set aside personal agendas. The commissioner group has substantially less experience managing or administering healthcare than the clinics they are attempting to influence. I surely hope the PHD is not the actual downfall of healthcare on Orcas... Pushing UW away will be an unforgivable action. There is bias within the group and nothing good will come until this bias is rooted out. You (PHD) are a governance board... you collect X amount of money, from which you deduct admin costs, then you are left with Y amount of money to disburse among qualified healthcare facilities, THE END. You do not get to make patient care policies or decisions. YOU ARE NOT MY DOCTOR. Qualified facilities: 1. Accept and file insurance (Medicare/apple health/ private) 2. Submit to third party financial audit 3. Current on all inspections 4. Maintain the highest level of accreditation for all staff members 5. Be proactive in the community and last 6. Have no outstanding malpractice suits or claims (suspension until suit settled). That is all. No more. Ensure every practice is within compliance from all "normal? avenues and write the check. It's fair. Telling me I have to use on facility or another for certain aspects of my care is infringing on my rights as a patient. It's not your place. |
| UW Clinic | I'm so happy Camille Fleming is back! |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I was excited to see UW come in until they gave me static about service and convinced me they didn't care if I was satisfied or not. I won't go back. |
| An Off-Island provider | I wish you all luck and truly hope we find a happy medium between cost and quality care. Thank all of you for your efforts. |
| UW Clinic | I wish you the best of luck |
| An Off-Island provider | I want a female physician. I want access to reproductive health care close to home for myself and my children. |
| An Off-Island provider | I want lab services available to me regardless if I continue to use other providers on the mainland. If I have a lab slip order in hand I expected it to be respected and used. After all lab bills are paid by an individual or insurance. We are a rural place and it should not be necessary to leave the island for a lab draw. I have never had an experience in the entire US where I could not have lab services if I had a physician lab slip. |
| Other On-Island provider | I was a former owner and I may become an owner again if it appears that I will not have to work on the mainland again. I a waiting to see. I had bad experiences in renting my former home and I do not want to do that again. I have been a resident since 2006 and before that I was a resident of Friday Harbor since 1990. |
| UW Clinic | I was astonished last year that the senior flu vaccine was not going to be available at the clinic. |
| UW Clinic | I thank this group for working hard to help us achieve after hours acute care on the island. I also again want to ask for the hiring of Dr. Camille Flemming by the UW clinic. We need her back, especially for pediatric care! |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I think if you want to make medical care available to the hordes of tourists it should cost them A LOT! It should by no means be the burden to the community that they already are! |
| UW Clinic | I think it is important to recognize the need for continuity of care, We are a small island and should be able to provide continuity of care to our residents. It becomes dangerous when past conditions are not factored in and software not merging is not an acceptable excuse for records being inaccessible. |
| UW Clinic | I think there are four principal issues: 1) additional physicians and RNs are needed, 2) upgraded equipment is needed, 3) UW Seattle voice and electronic communications and administration are unacceptable, and 3) non-resident visitors must pay surcharges for services. I would be willing to pay more taxes for 1 and 2. |
| An Off-Island provider | I think you need to spread the cost to everyone renters and property owners. Also what about all the island tourist maybe a fee on short term rentals?? past on the the visitor? A sales tax? It is not fair to put all the cost on property owners alone. |
| UW Clinic | I trust your judgment to make the best decision/s. |
| UW Clinic | I voted for the PHD because we wanted to continue with Dr. Russell. However, I believe that either the UW system must undergo some fundamental changes or the commissioners must look at different solutions. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I so appreciate the hard work you are doing. My greatest fear about the hospital district was that it would focus solely on UW's practice. I am hugely grateful that you took on the challenge represented by including both practices! |
| UW Clinic | I so appreciate the work you are doing in wrestling with the many intricate challenges of setting up a system of reliable health care on the island. THANK YOU!!! |
| UW Clinic | I realize that commissioners are working first to set up the system. Thank you, and Nirvana won't be set up overnight. A variety of opportunities for tremendous success already exist if the practices and commissioners are willing to think forward and undertake them. Be bold. Island residents deserve and respect a very effective health care system. Thank you again for the hard work you are doing. |
| An Off-Island provider | I really appreciate all the work you in doing on all of our behalf thank you |
| UW Clinic | I really appreciate the job that you are doing. I completely trust that you are doing what is best for all of us. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I really appreciate your efforts to make quality, sustainable health care on Orcas Island a reality. I am divorced and turning 65 this year. I work part-time an an Eastsound store and within a year or two will be retired and on a fixed income. I own a small home that has just received its second reassessment in two years: the county's assessed value of my property has now been increased by 61% since I purchased it not quite three years ago. I am concerned that property taxes are being relied on as the sole source of funding for Island health services. In our culture, we own what we pay for, and it concerns me that the many non-property owners, while having equal voting rights in levy ballot issues, don't share the same connection to or investment in health care decisions on the island. I would like the commission to consider additional funding possibilities, such as subscriptions and increasing clinic visit charges (with relief for the truly low-income). Thank you! |
| UW Clinic | I kept waiting for questions about other island providers but this survey only asked about UW. UW has taken a beating from this community because of misunderstanding and misinformation. To single out UW in the survey is not appropriate and only adds to the community fodder. As a community we asked UW to come - borderline demanded because of politics and entitlement. UW remains because they are professional and well respected. Please remember that our "Island Ways" are not always appropriate. Professional Medicine on Orcas, that is what we need and that is what we have with UW. |
| UW Clinic | I live on an island so I am willing to accept that there are some things that are not offered here. I feel that it is unnecessary to require a Dr to be on call 24/7 because I choose to live on an island that does not offer it. I knew that coming here and I still chose to come. Running an after hours care seems to be an expense that should not be required. if it is truly needing to be seen immediately then 911 should be used, if not appropriate for 911 then it should be able to be dealt with during business hours the next day. |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | I losted my primary care physician to UWM bureaucracy. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I missed the opportunity to say the best part of my clinic is that someone answers the phone. When I call the UW clinic for a patient (I am a care giver), I often have to wait 30-60 minutes or do not get through. There is always a huge hassle in talking to someone at the clinic. It is endlessly frustrating and needs attention. The UW clinic seems overly busy, under-staffed, makes mistakes, and generally is awful to work with. The doctors, nurses, and staff are great. The communication with patients needs immediate and vast improvement! |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | I prefer my health care tax dollars to go towards people who live on-island and are lower income, and I want to support them. I resent my tax dollars going to wealthier and wealthy retirees and vacation-home owners (like me) who choose to be on a non-bridge island but expect and demand to have mainland-type health services (scope and immediacy) - which are then subsidized by others (including those with fewer means). Can someone draw a systems map of who benefits more from these taxing and health services choices? http://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/ Is there a way to construct the money-flow that is truly economically and financially progressive? |
| UW Clinic | I need to have immediate care if it's warrented |
| UW Clinic | I now use the off island walk in clinics. |
| UW Clinic | I moved to Orcas with the full understanding of the limits of healthcare on the island. I do not expect anyone else to compensate for the fact that I choose to live on an island. The focus on urgent/acute care by the PHD commisssioners only perpetuates the idea in the community that the tax levy is for anything more than sustaining the healthcare we already have. We already have the option to speak to providers after hours as deemed appropriate. We already have wonderful providers on this island who voluntarily see patients in clinic after hours if necessary. Anyone can speak to a triage nurse 24/7 either through UW or most health insurance carriers. Virtual clinics are becoming more accessible as well. An Acute Care Model should only be developed after a look at the data, if at all. The dis/misinformation before the PHD vote should serve as a lesson regarding listening to a few loud voices vs. facts and data. Thank you for your time. |
| UW Clinic | I indicated that I would not be willing to pay extra for extended hours because I have no idea what $60/$100,000 will pay for. Given the fact that the clinics have required philanthropic help to maintain operations, even when extended hours were NOT a normal part of operations, I would like to see if $60/$100,000 will be sufficient to maintain the clinics at the same level as before. |
| UW Clinic | I have had great care by the EMS crews and the transport by air to the UW HOSPITAL on 5 occasions. |
| UW Clinic | I have not been impressed with Dr Alperin's knowledge or disposition compared to Dr. Geifer. Keeping Dr. Valesquez would have been a smarter move. |
| An Off-Island provider | I hear many complaints about access to, and quality of care from, UW Clinic -- but praise for Shinstrom's clinic. I know of an ex-nuse who contacted UW Clinic about chest pains, they couldn't see her so she took InterIsland over to FH hospital, just in time to have a cardiac arrest on the gurney. "Sad". |
| An Off-Island provider | I hope that regular and after-hours acute care will become available as a result of this initiative. |
| An Off-Island provider | I hope that the PHD does their due diligence in making sure a certain clinic is operating above board. I do not wish for my tax dollars to support a clinic that is contributing to the opioid crisis, providing sub standard care, and allows a dog in the office. I am not at all in support of the PHD dictating which clinic provides which services (X-ray). I for one will take my money else where should I need imaging and can not receive it at my clinic of choice (UW). That is such an unwise and inefficient thought process. I believe all of the commissioners should be removed for that decision alone as it shows incredible bias. The people of Orcas voted in a PHD because they wanted to keep UW, not because they wanted another group of administrators telling them what and where. |
| UW Clinic | I go to Peace Health at Friday Harbor for infusions... works out well. I know that I cannot expect all services when I live on an island. No different than when I lived in mountains of Idaho. |
| UW Clinic | I greatly appreciate the commissioners' efforts to seek and thoughtfully consider the community's health care needs. P.S. This survey took me at least 30 thoughtful minutes to complete. |
| UW Clinic | I have chosen the UW clinic as my provider because of their professionalism and dedication to our community. When the medical center's doctor gave a two week notice of retirement last year, the staff pulled it together and kept the clinic open with fill in providers to be sure the community needs were met. The core group remained with UW and they have great providers practicing safe,professional and thoughtful care. Stop putting the two clinics against each other-they are different practices who operate very differently. Commissioners should have absolutely no say so in what happens within the 2 clinics - you are only there to fund the needs of the community. Let the IRS,AMA, wA.gov and every other licensing authority do their jobs of policing what happens in the clinics. And find a way to be sure that you are truly reflecting the community sentiment. |
| UW Clinic | I do not live on Orcas, but have numerous visits with UW providers and local clinic on Lopez. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I don't think property owners should have to pay for everyone's health care. Everyone should have skin in the game. I work at a job here on island and have not always had insurance. I saved and bought a home. I made good choices. Responsible choices. My paychecks won't keep up with the rate property taxes are going up. I don't work a government job. I don't get big raises or cost of living adjustments. |
| UW Clinic | I don't believe that our medical facilities can be everything to everyone. If we can manage a good overall middle range for most, that would be successful. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I don't have many health problems, but see the need to help those that do. Some day I may need them as well. |
| UW Clinic | I feel we are currently missing the local touch. I do not like talking to some call center who has no idea of what I am talking about when I want to ask a simple question. |
| An Off-Island provider | I fell and broke my wrist at night. No doctor on the island. EMCs were all in a meeting. Was able to catch last ferry to Island Hospital in Anacortes and had to stay overnight. Not good. |
| An Off-Island provider | I believe the emphasis should be placed on providing basic care to everyone. Extended hours and short wait times are not a priority except for emergency services. Shifting hours to provide for working families is better than adding hours. Use of medical practitioners with appropriate training is encouraged as an effective and efficient alternative to doctors providing all services. I think people realize and expect that some emergency services and complex treatments will still have to be done off island and that the goal is to provide basic services only. |
| UW Clinic | I believe the management of calls from Seattle office is not working well, even dialing 2...is there no way that patients of the clinic, at least , could have a local phone access to the clinic? |
| UW Clinic | I do not like not being connected to the clinic when I call. Also not being able to get a return call from someone soon after I call with a problem. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I am worried about being taxed heavily for a service that should be available regardless of money. Too much emphasis is put on monetary gain in the medical industry and not on the basic needs of a human regardless of race, sex or income. The regard of a healthcare provider needs to be humanity first, health second, and maybe money third if not lower on the list. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I appreciate 'Patient centered' health Care as opposed to 'business centered' Health Care, from all who deal with the patient. |
| UW Clinic | I appreciate your service! Tough job. Getting to one facility for all practices is an important component to financial support. I an not anxious to have my tax support funding services for community members who chose not to have insurance coverage. |
| UW Clinic | I believe its important to be able to provide timely basic and routine medical services, along with timely acute care at reasonable cost: QUALITY, TIMELY, RESONABLE |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | I am waiting for Dr. Fleming to be come my primary care doctor |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I AM VERY DISSAPOINTED IN HEARING FROM FRIENDS WHO GO TO U OF W MED. CTR..THERE IS TOO MUCH RED TAPE/INEFFICIENCY/LACK OF PROF. BUSINESS METHODS IN GETTING THE JOB DONE |
| UW Clinic | I am surprised you only asked about one of the providers in the survey. |
| UW Clinic | I am so happy that you are even considering acute and after hours care at this time. I feel relieved that all of you truly want the very best health care possible for the island. Thank you! island |
| UW Clinic | I am satisfied with our EMS service and being flown off in critical situations, however, I want better cooperation between the clinic and EMS for serious but not critical medical situations |
| UW Clinic | I am grateful for now having a taxing district and it's Board members. The UW clinic is not, in my experience, responsive to the needs of this community. I have supported the Orcas Island clinic since 1972 and have served on its Board. I am saddened by the impersonal, regimented attitude and performance of the UW administrators and medical personnel. For the first time, a few months ago, I called the Fire Dept. EMT's to my home in the middle of the night for cardiac symptoms which are now being addressed off-island. We are now being "saved medically" in acute and emergency situations by the caring, professional EMT's and Para-medics. This is not the vision we have always had of our island clinic. |
| UW Clinic | I am pleased camille Flemming is coming back as I think she is fantastic doctor for the community. It would be great if UW and Kaiser worked together. The e-care system in place is working well. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I am at the hospital in Anacortes with my wife, who broke her ankle yesterday... Anything that increases the options for health care without going to the mainland is good. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I am concerned about the cost basis for the estimate of property tax impact. How are service provider charges monitored? Are the commissioners paid for their services and, if so, who pays them and what are they paid? |
| I don't have a Primary Care provider | I am a long time island resident. (1986 and counting). I remember when 'The Clinic' was what is now The Lower Tavern. Until the change to UW I NEVER, EVER had issues w/ access to local healthcare, with insurance or without.. A phone call, a local person to speak with, an appointment made based on urgency, and NEVER more than a 1 day wait.. As things stand, I would probably bleed to death in a ditch(and might prefer to, given the current provider lineup) before the Seattle switchboard had even got through its computerized menu options, to the 'real' person, offering me a possible appointment three weeks hence... |
| An Off-Island provider | I am a permanent, primary resident of Crane Island. I switched from Orcas Med Center to Peace Island for primary care when the staffing at the Med Ctr seemed to me to be insufficient. I own a home on Orcas that is presently rented on a 12 month lease, I figure I eventually will be a full-time resident of Orcas so I am concerned and supportive of the district planning. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I am appalled by the cases being flown off the island at great expense and not without risk for acute or semi-acute problems that can and should be done on island. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Health care should be available to everyone. Even an uninsured visitor who may fall and break something. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | How much are you being paid? |
| Orcas Family Health Center | I make a point of referring my patients and clients to (UW) medical center for infant well-baby care. |
| UW Clinic | Health care services should be charged to the individual receiving the care, NOT to property owners through taxes. If it must be funded through taxes then add to the sales tax so that the costs are fairly distributed. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Having to travel off-island for medical services that aren't provided on Orcas is extremely problematic for elderly, disabled and otherwise mobility/income-challenged individuals. |
| An Off-Island provider | Health care has been abysmal recently-not from my experience but through first hand accounts...from my mother, from friends, from employees. If the results of a visit on island is simply a referral off-island why not skip the step. Where I have had exceptional service is the two times I was stitched up by doctors excluded from the UofW when the transfer was made. It's hard to understand. I heard there was a lot of money spent to make the transfer to the UofW easier and yet the process has not been by ALL accounts. I hate to see funds wasted and goals not met. I am a working class individual and would like to see property taxes stay within reach for someone like me. |
| UW Clinic | Good healthcare availability is vital to the economic health of this community. |
| UW Clinic | Good luck. This is our best shot at getting and sustaining high quality health care on Orcas. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Have heard many comments about the long waits for care at UW clinic. Somehow Family Health manages to see people almost immediately. I hope that their management system will be followed if there is a merger of the clinics. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Having a quality local medical provider is critical to a secure retirement phase of life on Orcas Island. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | having access to acute care 24/7 is vitally important, without having to take a helicopter ride. |
| UW Clinic | Having emergency care is most important to me. I am an airlift member, but I feel we rely too heavily on our Fire Department for emergency care. |
| UW Clinic | Having to make an appointment for lab tests several days or weeks out is absurd. |
| UW Clinic | get a new director of the clinic |
| Orcas Family Health Center | get it done |
| UW Clinic | Getting an appointment over the phone is not efficient. When calling the Orcas Clinic we should get them and not someone in Seattle. |
| UW Clinic | glad you asked this-- I had written a note to say that in terms of questions 10 and 11, since I am not a property owner but a long term renter (27 pus years) I answered 10 and 11 as though I were a property owner and what I would be willing to pay. Wish there had been some "N/A" option. Bottom line is too much money is being wasted on "health care" due to insurance companies. Still, I am not at all impressed by UW medicine, and I am not a "demanding" person. But I guess its the way of things--big buerocracies, (or however you spell that) and the human being shuffled in the maze, when they are dealing with something as intimate as their body. All this too overlong said, thanks for your well thought out survey. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | First, I am a renter so, the finances are completely out of my control and so my answers there skew your survey results. Just thinkin' |
| UW Clinic | Front staff should be welcoming. |
| An Off-Island provider | Fundamentally, it is a question of economies of scale. I will always be able to obtain higher quality full service health care on the mainland. If I have to wait weeks for a local appointment, I might as well head off Island and do the Costco run at the same time. Basically, I think many Islanders want to have it both ways, rural lifestyle and urban level of services. There is not a sufficient subscriber base in the Islands to provide extensive ancillary services (24 hour Urgent care, diagnostic/lab services, specialist access, etc.) Basically, if I have anything of a non-standard nature, I get sent off the Island anyway, so quality local primary care makes sense, but the rest is just unnecessary overhead. We are also seeing an increasing reliance on those of us who pay property taxes to subsidize conveniences for those that don't. It's getting rather tiresome to be viewed as not community minded because a person doesn't want to spend "just" another $600 a year for each new "need". All of those "little additional charges" for some new "vital need" add up fast. As for urgent care, if it really is urgent, the EMT's are going to put a person on the helicopter to the mainland anyway (and, by the way, anyone who doesn't have a subscription to the air evacuation services is an irresponsible idiot). |
| UW Clinic | Feel good about the UW taking over the operation. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | figure out a manner in which off island services may be coordinated to include, if necessary, nearby accommodations. Medical tourism, I call it. My proposed plan was rejected by Island Hospital even though they promote a healthy island community in their literature. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Don't make my healthcare costs more expensive than they already are by creating more levels of bureaucracy. I didn't vote for this district. I don't want to pay more than I already am for healthcare, which is a ridiculous amount. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | don't own any property so I checked $0 taxable value |
| UW Clinic | Don't pay "billing" prices |
| UW Clinic | Everyone needs healthcare and everyone should participate in paying for those costs. Why don't we talk about a small addition to our local sales tax that was EVERYONE pays their part. We've worked very hard to buy our house here. Focused for years and years on saving and actually buying. Why should hard working people who make sacrifices to buy a house have to pay for healthcare that isn't as good as it was before the Extra UW Levy |
| Orcas Family Health Center | extremely disappointed with U of WA health care delivery system here and in Seattle. Call center system is flawed...messages have been sent to wrong dept, never forwarded to our local clinic, resulting in crucial Rx refills being delayed as long as 10 days. Appts weeks out. Had been supportive to have UWA involved, thinking that the involvement would be a good thing for the island and referral to specialists at UWA when appropriate. No complaints with local medical staff at med center, but found the ability to have appts, lab results, and refills in timely manner frustrating. Ended up seeking "patient friendly"health care delivery elsewhere. |
| UW Clinic | Don't discriminate against any provider! |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Don't make adequate care more complicated or more expensive. This isn't the mainland and cannot be. There are sacrifices involved in living on an island -- ferries, higher costs for goods and services, and lack of quality and quantity of services available on the mainland. Don't try to make the islands equivalent to the mainland by throwing money at it -- it is not possible, only more expensive. |
| UW Clinic | Convenient and quality health care is extremely important and is the major concern that has me considering moving off-island. |
| UW Clinic | Dealing with an anonymous nurse at UW in Seattle on a Sunday resulted in my spending unnecessary hours getting to the ER in Island Hospital and then staying overnight because it was too late to come home. Someone who knew me would have wanted to ask a question or two, not just decide I had an emergency because it was Sunday and my age triggers their protocol. |
| UW Clinic | Dental should be considered as health care and alternative services |
| UW Clinic | Do not raise property taxes for non-emergency health care services. Keep Orcas a place to live for resilient independent residents like the communities that live in the Cascades or SE Alaska. Adding property taxes is passing the costs of the many onto the backs of the few. Essentially, if you rent or visit Orcas you don't have to pay to staff for elective after hours health care, what a deal! Make the cost of health care egalitarian. Pass in on in Sales tax so that the tourists pay for the infrastructure you want, not the howm owners. Please! |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Clear information as the reality of what services can be available as a rural community and to call 911 for all emergencies |
| UW Clinic | Clinic should work more with EMS. |
| UW Clinic | Communication must be improved. We go results quickly but never heard from nurses. |
| UW Clinic | Concern or question: After signing contract and experience of a year on Orcas, does UWMed really want to be here? If not, what are the alternatives? |
| UW Clinic | Concerned about the qualifications of persons responsible for dollar-making decisions. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Consider subscription services for uninsured and underinsured. Insurance is going to put pressure on rural communities as reimbursement decreases and affordability for individuals changes as the federal legislature destroys ACA. We can count on more un and under insured. Some rural communities have success with subscription services for primary and acute care combined with short term policies for emergency and hospital care. However, with the creeping return of junk policies in this market combined with federal push to sell across state lines, education would need to be a key component. Another idea is to work in the community with small biz and non- profits to form a community based association and provide access to purchase through an association group insurance plan for everyone under 65. This would allow for knowledgeable people to vet the plan and insure real coverage. And possibly skinny it down to make it affordable when combined with subscription services at the clinics. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Anything more than critical care must be done on the mainland. Hospital District will be another jobs program at TAXPAYERS expense. |
| An Off-Island provider | Appreciate all your hard work on behalf of our community! |
| UW Clinic | Are property taxes the only option for funding for the hospital district? Isn't there any federal state funding available to help? We are long time islanders in our sixties who will be on a fixed income before too long and we are concerned about the burden the added taxes will place on people like us. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | As indicated, if health care providers leave, please notify the patients they were caring for so they can make other arrangements for treatment. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Because of or national health care madness it's important that our community take care of all who are living or visiting our island to the extent that is reasonable and possible without burdening unduly those who cannot afford it. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | Best result would to combine UW with Shinstrom's practice to avoid admin costs and unneeded duplication. Politics aside, please. |
| An Off-Island provider | Bottom line... Prior to UW taking over and the hospital district being established the clinic worked fairly well. Now for an additional 1 million dollars the clinic has become less efficient and we are getting surveys about possibly adding more expense. Think about that. It's nuts. |
| UW Clinic | Also, I can never get an appointment with the same doctor for my kids...they've seen 3 different doctor in the last year, which seems fine if their sick but not ok for their checkups. |
| UW Clinic | Although I've owned this island property for over 60 years, I've only recently made it my permanent home. |
| Orcas Family Health Center | after hours and weekend hours are my biggest concern |
| UW Clinic | Again, they need to schedule blood draws for immediate delivery to lab.They need to allow any permitted Doctor and the patient access to medical records and any results. |
| UW Clinic | All of the Commissioners had better get this correct with no adverse hardship to either the people using the UW Medical Clinic or the people via property taxes that are actually paying for this. Equally as important, there needs to be a consolidation of the two operating clinics into one medical facility. These two facilities are geographically half a mile apart. When considering the duplication of all staffing levels and real costs associated with operation two facilities, this is neither financially responsible nor appropriate for the property owners to be on the hook for. |
| UW Clinic | able to speak to a nurse when needed |
| UW Clinic | Acute care at ALL times on island is vital |
| UW Clinic | acute care thru the medical providers is a luxury that we should not expect living on an island with a small population. i don't want to pay for this. also...combine the two medical practices now! it is unexpected that taxpayers should subsidize this inefficient arrangement. If the medical providers don't want to do this...tough! receiving money from the hospital district should be contingent on agreeing to combine practices. |
| UW Clinic | 3 of my friends have not been served for medical attention or prescription delivery in an efficient or timely manner. |
| An Off-Island provider | A facility on Orcas similar to Peace Health in Fri Harbor would be optimal and worth paying additional taxes for. |
| UW Clinic | A medical clinic is vital to Orcas Island. I support the cost to be devided between all property owners |
| UW Clinic | A triage nurse after hours would be prudent, I believe. |
| An Off-Island provider | Ability to get infusions on-island would make a huge difference to me. Blood draws are essential (and currently okay). |
| Orcas Family Health Center | After a receiving care from numerous high level big city institutions, we were delightfully surprised when we moved to Orcas full time five years ago, to find the high quality, personal, and non-bureaucratic, and rapidly responsive care we received from Dr Shinstrom's team. |
| UW Clinic | 1) In the discussion of accessibility to acute health care, it is important to educate public about what constitutes an acute episode. A triage nurse could also help in the event by redirecting to regular hours. 2) More education of the public about the tax - it doesn't only fund UW, and outside physicians should be providing some of the services (eg blood draws) or contracting with UW to do it. There seems to be some confusion about who is a "client" at the UW clinic, and who is not. If the UW clinic will be providing acute and after-hours care, will there be restrictions for patients who are not registered at the UW clinic? Perhaps PR would also be better served if it were made clear to the community that a registration process is necessary to access services, or is the intention to provide "walk-in" services for all? |
| UW Clinic | As mentioned earlier, I am deeply concerned about the attitude and responsiveness of the people at your front desk. I know extra services cost extra money, but it seems to me that management of special needs could be handled in an ethical way and still not raise costs so very much. I also think you need to seriously consider the quality of the MDs you have on staff. |
| UW Clinic | For the survey makers: Obviously, the answers provided here are based completely on the state of the interviewee's health picture, and their past, and current experience with on-island facilities. Perhaps there should have been some questions about that. For the commissioners: I understand that, initially, you need to concentrate on the obvious medical health care (Doctors) services. But please don't forget the other dental/mental health/visual/ "Healing Arts" services (acupuncture, therapeutic massage, hypnosis, etc), many of which even now go without support from insurance, and are patronized by a higher %-age of islanders who may be in the lower income brackets, and may not have health insurance. Public support for ALL healing services would prove that Orcas Is. is truly a caring community! "In Sickness and in Health.." |