Peace Health Celebrates 10 Years of Service to San Juan Island
On November 17th, 2012, PeaceHealth held the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the new facility Peace Island Medical Center, located in Friday Harbor, Washington. Peace Island Medical Center was a collaborative effort between San Juan County Public Hospital District No. 1 and PeaceHealth to provide healthcare services to the rural islands located in San Juan County; the resulting effort nearly doubled the amount of healthcare providers and services available in San Juan County overnight.
Ten years since opening, Peace Island Medical Center (PIMC) is still servicing the residents on San Juan County. Presently, PIMC offers clinical and emergency medicine, and appointments in specialty areas including gynecology, oncology, gastroenterology, general surgery, nutrition, physical therapy, speech therapy, and general surgery.
Jack Estrada, Chief Administrative Officer at PIMC commented, “I’m honored to work with a truly an exceptional team of caregivers who share a commitment to providing safe, high-quality, 24/7 integrated healthcare right here on the island—everything from flu shots to colonoscopies, cancer treatment and physical therapy. We look forward to enhancing and expanding the services we provide and helping keep Islanders healthy for many more years to come.”
San Juan County Public Hospital District No. 1 provides an annual subsidy of $1.2 million to PeaceHealth to support Peace Island Medical Center but does not operate those services. Nathan Butler, Superintendent of the Hospital District, noted that “Rural communities face longstanding shortages in healthcare across the country – a shortage aggravated in the last few years. When we look at the challenges our peers and other communities are facing, I couldn’t be more grateful for the partnership of PeaceHealth.”
To date, PIMC has treated and serviced 133,203 clinic patients, 35,817 emergency department patients, performs 380,174 lab tests, and provided over 72,425 appointments or procedures in specialty areas. Estrada stated, “We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the visionaries who led the effort to build a hospital here on San Juan Island, and to this community for entrusting us with their care these last 10 years.”