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ISLAND TALENT ‘Whale of a Show’ returns Page 9
VIKING POWER Coverage of recent high school sports games Page 8
Sounder The Islands’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
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WEDNESDAY, September 26, 2012 n VOL. 45, NO. 39 n 75¢
PeaceHealth vows to keep its promise
Goodbye, April
by Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
Bruce Hubbard photo
A
pril the cow, who was Eastsound's mayor for the 2011-12 term, passed away last week. Her life on Orcas began when two sisters adopted her from the San Juan County Fair more than fifteen years ago. April, a brown swiss cow, lived in the field near the public school and was well-loved by passersby. From all signs, everything indicated a quiet, natural death for April, who was 18 years old. She was found on Sept. 18 behind a blackberry bramble. A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 10:45 a.m. The group will gather at her field and be led to the stage area of the village green by music from the Dust Bunnies. Bring instruments and pets. On July 2, 2011 April was named the official winner of the Honorary Eastsound Mayoral Race, a fundraiser sponsored by and benefitting Orcas Island Children’s House. An obvious favorite of Orcas locals, April captured 57 percent of the vote in a five-week campaign that raised nearly $5,000 for the early learning center. In a rare interview following the election, April was quoted as saying she found the outpouring of community support “mooving.” She will be greatly missed, but during a full moon, if you look closely, you may see her jumping over that moon, looking down and mooing with delight.
Charter review 101 2Ele0ction 12 Sounder takes a look at CRC recommendations and presents pro and con guest columns
County residents will decide how much to shake up the current county council structure in this November’s election with a vote on three propositions devised by the Charter Review Commission. The propositions would cut the council from six part-time members to three full-time members (prop. 1); replace the executive county administrator position with a county manager (prop. 2); and mandate that all county council meetings are open to the public (prop. 3). Approved by majority vote by the 21-member commission, the propositions were developed through a
series of meetings that included testimony from county officials, former freeholders, and others with a goal to facilitate a more effective governance structure. The propositions do not overturn Home Rule, adopted in 2005. For a variety of letters on the topic, see our letters to the editor section in this week’s edition and at www.islandsounder.com. Included in this story are two guest columns: one for the propositions and one against.
See CHARTER, Page 6
Islanders voiced concerns last week about the county’s first-ever hospital and its affiliation with Franciscan Health Systems. With a standing-room-only crowd on hand, questions and answers about Peace Island Medical Center zinged across the room at the Sept. 18 Hospital District Commission meeting. But whether pledges by district commissioners or by PeaceHealth officials will soothe a budding apprehension about the prospective partnership between PeaceHealth, which will operate the medical center now under construction in Friday Harbor, and Franciscan Health Systems, remains to be seen. The medical center is part of the PeaceHealth system of Catholic hospitals and medical clinics in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. It is financing roughly two-thirds of the $30 million construction cost the medical center, which will open at the end of year. It will be a 10-bed critical access hospital providing expanded primary care and specialty clinic, enhanced diagnostic center, a cancer care suite providing on-island chemotherapy and cancer services and a 24-hour emergency room. On Aug. 22, PeaceHealth announced it was engaged in partnership talks with Franciscan Health Systems, an operator of hospitals and clinics in Washington. It is owned by Catholic Health Initiatives of Denver, Colo. It has sparked some community concern that certain health services will not be offered at the new facility. During the meeting, Commission Chairwoman Lenore Bayuk once again reiterated her confidence in the Peace Health representations of future care, and that the panel of elected hospital districts officials would “carefully review and respond to” a list of concerns outlined in a let-
ter endorsed by 300 islanders and presented to the commission. Bayuk read a letter from Sister Kathleen Pruitt, a board member of PeaceHealth and the medical center, that said flatly, “The commitments we made to you will be honored.” Twice the letter repeated, “A promise made is a promise kept.” Pruitt added that, “This is an opportunity for Peace Health and the local community to show what can be done in working together to carry out the values and goals that we share.” PIMC will replace San Juan Island’s 38-year-old medical clinic, Inter Island Medical Center, once it opens. The hospital district will pass onto PeaceHealth its annual property tax revenue – about $1.2 million a year – to subsidize health care at the new medical center. In recent weeks, islanders formed the Coalition for Health Care Transparency and Equity. Its letter was distributed at the
See HEALTH, Page 7
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