Whatcom Public Hospital Presentation given January 8th.

How Do We Go From this:

To This:

Presentation Outline:

What currently exists:

• 1 Private Hospital - St Joes, PeaceHealth
• 1 Public Hospital District Clinic in Pt Roberts
• Approx 21 people in a PHD out of Skagit in East Whatcom County

What we endorsed:

• Creation of a Public Hospital District, as a chapter, in 2024, that would cover more of the County

What is being worked on that people may propose:

• A county wide Public Hospital District, of some kind, to expand access across the county including rural and urban Whatcom

What it does:

• Provides a foundation for expanding healthcare options, the size and scope of care, in our County
• Gives ability for community input - issues around wait times, culture at the hospital, public issues, are given some community input which doesnt quite exist now
• Options to bill less, or provide different kinds of services - more input

What it doesn’t do:

• Not immediately all free healthcare. A public clinic or hospital would still, in the foreseeable future, bill patients.
• Consider your attention to things like Whole Washington and other causes to improve the funding model of healthcare

What we might get out of it (speculation):

• In our lifetime, we might get a few clinics in east whatcom and urban Bellingham.
• In our descendants lifetime, we might get a second hospital

What is happening:

• The website
• Community First Whatcom Staff focus
• Meetings happening later this year

• Public Health
• WhatcomPublicHospital.org
• Summary