HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT FACTS:

TODAY

The Inter Island Medical Center serves over 18,000 patients a year as an outpatient, primary care clinic providing 24/7 emergency services. It is staffed by four physicians and several visiting specialists.

HOWEVER

The Center has only basic diagnostic equipment and must send many patients off island for additional diagnosis and procedures. It is located in an aging facility being used to capacity.  It cannot be expanded without extraordinary expenditures to serve the growing number of patients, nor to accommodate equipment needed to maintain evolving standards of medical care. It has no beds for inpatient care. Because it is designated by the state as a Rural Health Clinic, Medicare will not provide full cost reimbursement for services to the many IIMC patients who are 65 and older.  Instead, Medicare pays to Rural Health Clinics fixed fees which do not cover the actual cost of care.  The costs of operating the IIMC are going up while reimbursements are going down.  This situation cannot be sustained for much longer.

Currently, the Inter Island Medical Center costs San Juan Island taxpayers over $1.3 million per year.