The Franciscan clinic is set to close in three weeks, and Dr. Gary Koch, the medical director there, announced on Monday that a solution has likely been found to keep the Sunrise Ridge clinic open.

Clinic providers and others working to stabilize health care in the community met last Friday with with two health networks interested in running the clinic. Koch said there were meaningful discussions with both groups, and a verbal understanding to pursue a formal agreement with one of the networks is now in place. While there is much to finalize, Koch said he believes this effort will come to fruition.

“I am totally optimistic this will work,” he said. “Our doors, in all likelihood, will stay open.”

Until a formal agreement is reached, expected in the next two to three weeks, Koch said he is not at liberty to share the names of the organizations, but they are both Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). With this designation, they qualify for enhanced reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other benefits; both agencies operate several non-profit community health clinics in the Puget Sound area.

CHI Franciscan plans to run the clinic until Aug. 5. A clinic opening date under new leadership has not yet been established, but Koch said it may be as soon as early August; he noted that health network officials are committed to coming sooner rather than later.

“Their intent is to have a minimal gap in coverage,” he said.

The majority of the clinic’s providers are intending to stay on, Koch added, as well as Jessica Wesch, MD, who the Franciscans had hired before they made the announcement they were terminating services on the island. Koch noted he plans to take an extended vacation next month but will be back at work by mid-September.

With new ownership in place, the clinic will be able to accept most private insurance plans, including Group Health, Medicare and Washington’s Apple Health (Medicaid).

“They accept a wide variety of insurance coverage,” Koch added about the likely new provider.

Regarding health records, the clinic will able to retrieve those that have been sent to other providers, if patients wish. Other clinic patients, Koch said, should “sit tight” while the details regarding records are sorted out.

When they announced their decision to leave, Franciscan officials said they lost $500,000 a year at the clinic, and both Swedish Medical Center and UW Medicine indicated they would need to be compensated for their losses if they administered the clinic. Koch said while the details are not yet clear, the new clinic will also need island financial support.

“That is going to be part of the puzzle,” he said.

Koch also thanked several individuals who have been working to address the medical needs of the island in recent months.

“We appreciated all the efforts of the collaborative group,” he said. “I want to thank the Sunrise Ridge board for their support, and we want to thank islanders for the huge outpouring of support from the community in general.”

Additionally, he thanked Sen. Sharon Nelson and Rep. Eileen Cody for their efforts, and islander John Caron, the dental director at one of the health networks that participated in Friday’s talks. It was Caron who first suggested Koch investigate a relationship with a Federally Qualified Health Center and worked to open some important doors in the process.

“That got us looking in this direction,” Koch said.

For her part, Nelson, who convened a meeting three weeks ago to avert a medical emergency on the island, welcomed the news, though she noted there is still work to do.

“We just need to get this finalized,” she said. “Our providers understand the island, and I am optimistic this will solve the issue.”

Although recent indications are that the island will likely not experience a prolonged period without its largest medical clinic, a gap in care is still possible. Before this latest development, a dozen leaders of Vashon’s social service agencies signed a letter to the director of Seattle-King County Public Health, seeking county assistance for any interim period the island might face without the clinic. In particular, the letter inquired if public health doctors or nurses might come to the island or if its mobile clinic for homeless people could provide care to Vashon. Carolyn Anderson, the executive director of Sunrise Ridge Health Services, which serves as the landlord to the clinic, sent the letter and received a response from public health director Patty Hayes last week. Hayes indicated the county could not provide that help, as the van is strictly for serving homeless people and the county relies on specific private clinics to provide public health services.

“Any solution to the primary health care service issue on Vashon will need to look to these or other private care options,” Hayes wrote.

The county’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division has been part of discussions with Vashon’s fire department and with other EMS providers in the county to help bolster the department’s emergency response capabilities for an interim period, if needed. To that end, Michele Plorde, who heads the county’s EMS Division, was slated to speak to Vashon Island Fire & Rescue commissioners on Tuesday evening, after press time.