The IIMC cannot continue to meet community needs without finding ways to meet the challenges of (1) increasing costs and diminishing reimbursement income and (2) critically needed space for patient services.

SEARCHING FOR A SOLUTION

In the summer of 2006, a group of concerned islanders began exploring ways to meet the financial and space challenge of the IIMC to assure the continuation of high quality health care and to expand community medical services. After learning about different reimbursement options that could provide the basis for financial solubility, the group officially called themselves the San Juan Community Hospital Committee. Using private funds only, the Committee hired consultants to survey the community’s needs and desires, to identify what medical services might be viable for a small rural community such as ours, and to explore the costs of construction and operation of an expanded medical facility in Friday Harbor.

At their September 2007 meeting, the San Juan County Public Hospital District #1 Commissioners voted to spend up to $10,000 for an engineering study by The Healthcare Collaborative Group to look at the possibility of expanding the IIMC and upgrading it to building standards adequate to serve the medical needs of the community into the future. The Committee provided additional funds for the study. The consultants found that the IIMC facility could not be easily or economically upgraded, and that expanding the building would require acquisition of surrounding parcels of land, be extremely expensive, and result in a number of service limitations. The recommendation was to investigate alternative sites on which to establish a new medical center designed to meet our community’s needs.

Also explored was the possibility of developing formal relationships with mainland healthcare providers including UW Medicine, Swedish Medical Center, Providence Health & Services, and PeaceHealth. Discussions with PeaceHealth evolved and a decision was made by the Public Hospital District Board Commissioners to approve a feasibility study to determine whether a relationship would be beneficial to both our community and PeaceHealth.

A feasibility assessment team was assembled that included representatives from our Hospital District Board, the San Juan Island EMS, the IIMC, consultants knowledgeable about many facets of rural Northwest healthcare, PeaceHealth staff and others from the San Juan community. The initial results of this intensive study indicate that further investigation including the organizational and financial details is warranted. The initial results also indicate that a new integrated medical center that includes an expanded clinic as its heart, some outpatient services and limited inpatient services, might best serve our community.