Health care on Vashon has changed dramatically over the past 130 years, mirroring the evolution of health care across America.

Over this period, medicine has shifted from being limited and reactive to becoming a force capable of managing, curing or even preventing disease.

The early years

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, health care was predominantly reactive, based on fee-for-service models, and administered in rural areas like Vashon by independent family doctors. The scope of medical practice was limited, and many diseases were effectively death sentences with few effective treatments available.

Dr. Lomis Edward Smith and his daughter, Belle Smith Baldwin, were the first medical doctors to reside on Vashon, living at their Cedarhurst property, but they did not practice on the island. The first medical doctor to open an office on the island was Dr. W.T. Lovering, who established his practice in 1892. (Indigenous people, of course, have lived and practiced medicine on the island for millennia.)

One of the most notable early doctors on Vashon was Dr. Fredrick McMurray, who arrived in 1921 and practiced for more than 35 years until his retirement shortly before his death in 1957. During his tenure, Dr. McMurray delivered more than 900 babies and was so beloved that McMurray Middle School was named in his honor.

Despite advancements such as the development of penicillin and the polio vaccine, Dr. McMurray’s practice remained fundamentally unchanged; he stitched wounds, set broken bones, dispensed prescriptions, and provided medical advice. Without a hospital or urgent care facility, Dr. McMurray and other local doctors were the island’s sole providers of medical care.

Practices like Dr. McMurray’s continued into the early 2000s as medical services diversified and grew. Dentistry began on the island with Dr. A.W. Orlob in 1921, while mental health services emerged with the formation of Vashon Youth and Family Services (VYFS) in 1977, originally named Project Intercept.

The narrow, reactive approach to health care that prevailed until after World War II gradually shifted to a more comprehensive science-based treatment and preventive model with the belief that medicine could manage long-term health conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease, to reduce adverse events.

In the 1970s and 1980s, new health services arrived on Vashon. This evolving environment saw changes in health care insurance, rising medical costs, and the emergence of alternative medical practices. Independent family doctors in small towns and rural areas began to disappear across the country, including on Vashon.

Two key events in 1945 laid the groundwork for changes to come: the passage of Washington State’s Hospital District Law, which allowed the creation of local hospital districts with taxing authority, and the formation of Puget Sound Group Health Cooperative, one of the first attempts at an integrated system that combined insurance, hospitals, and medical groups in one organization.

While Vashon wouldn’t create a hospital district for another 74 years, the potential existed. Group Health’s nonprofit, consumer-governed approach to prepaid health care inspired islanders to hold a 1948 meeting with the cooperative to discuss the community’s health care needs.

At that meeting, a Group Health representative presciently stated: “If a clinic is ever built here, it is because Vashon-Maury Islanders wanted it and cooperated to make it possible.”

The Island Health Service Center emerges

In 1949, the first proposal for a hospital district was defeated by a vote of 142 for (16%) and 757 against (84%), primarily due to concerns about the increased taxes. The Chamber of Commerce and the Vashon Island News-Record opposed the measure, with one opponent noting, “One cannot drink champagne on a beer income.”

Despite this setback, the vision for island-based health care endured. In 1963, Operation Jigsaw, Vashon’s first community planning initiative, assessed needs across 15 community sectors. The 1964 report included recommendations for a 24-hour emergency phone service (now provided by 911 and 988), an island nursing association (now expanded into the Medical Reserve Corps), increased Red Cross training (supported today by Vashon Fire & Rescue CPR and VashonBePrepared emergency training), and community groups to assist nursing homes (realized through the creation of Vashon Community Care Center).

Operation Jigsaw also recommended a civic assembly (now the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council). Under the leadership of Leo Montague and Dorothy Johnson, the assembly conducted a significant 1971 community health care survey involving 200 volunteers. This survey collected data from 4,475 individuals — approximately three-quarters of the Island’s 6,516 residents — and found that 61% of islanders believed there was a “great need” for a medical facility, with only 2% seeing “no need.”

In response, the Civic Assembly’s Health Services Committee, chaired by Dorothy Johnson and Opal Montague, established Vashon-Maury Health Services (VMHS), which opened the Vashon-Maury Health Service Center in Burton on July 10, 1972. Staffed by nurses Mary Clark, Jackie Robinett, and Merrily Allen and supervised by Dr. Janet Hodge from the University of Washington, the clinic was an immediate success.

By 1974, it moved to a new location in Vashon town, which is now the Fair Isle Animal Clinic. To financially support the clinic, a group of island volunteers formed Health Center Volunteers, organizing fundraisers such as auctions and plant sales. They also established Granny’s Attic Gift Shop, which opened on June 13, 1975, in a former gas station now occupied by Vashon Island Estate Sales. Granny’s Attic pledged $500 per month to support the Health Center; its contributions grew to $154,000 by 2010.

By 1976, Vashon Maury Health Services acquired the closed Nike anti-aircraft missile site for community services and recreation. The former barracks were repurposed as the Vashon Health Center, the administrative offices became Granny’s Attic, and the radar site was converted into sports fields.

After renovations, the Vashon-Maury Island Health Service Center officially opened in 1978 at Sunrise Ridge, which was named through a community contest. The opening ceremony featured U.S. Senator Warren Magnuson, U.S. Representative Norm Dicks, and Washington State Senator Pete von Reichbauer, with more than 2,000 islanders in attendance.

The Health Service Center initially offered a family medical practice staffed by Dr. Gary Koch, Dr. Mary Ellen Walker, and Dr. Andrew Ury, along with home health services provided by nurse Merrily Allen. Operated as a nonprofit under a board of directors, the clinic expanded significantly and thrived alongside private practitioners into the late 1990s.

This community-based medical model worked well for nearly 30 years. But the Social Services Reform Act of 1997, which reduced reimbursement rates; rising administrative and operational costs; and an aging population needing more medical services created financial strain on the clinic. Granny’s Attic was no longer able to cover the clinic’s financial shortfalls, leading to a 2001 merger with Highline Health Care to ensure financial stability.

Providers come and go

Prompted by the collapse of the previous model of an island-owned clinic, a group of residents pushed a second time for the creation of a public hospital district, with a vote scheduled for spring 2005. The proposal was rejected by a significant margin, with 71% voting against and only 29% in favor.

Proponents of the district, including Dr. Brad Roter, Carol Ireland-McLean, and Melinda and Dick Sontgerath, argued that it was necessary to support both the Vashon Community Care Center and the Vashon Health Center. Opponents, led by Hilary Emmer and Dr. Sjardo Steneker, criticized the proposal for lacking clear plans.

Emmer wrote: “My problem with this process is that I feel it is backward. I would like a needs assessment done first. Then we would know what we are voting on.”

An editorial in The Beachcomber echoed this sentiment, stating: “A link between the survival of the nursing home and the health center, and the Public Hospital District has not been made. At least, not a good enough link to warrant a blank check from voters.”

The merger with Highline Health Care proved successful, but in 2013, Highline became part of Catholic Health Initiative (CHI) Franciscan, and the clinic was renamed Franciscan Medical Clinic – Vashon Island. Despite the change, residents continued to refer to it as “the health clinic.”

Islanders, led by May Gerstle and Kate Hunter, raised concerns about potential changes to reproductive health care access under the new Catholic Church-affiliated ownership. They formed Vashon HealthWatch and organized public meetings with CHI Franciscan leaders, who assured the community that no changes would occur.

The initial operating arrangement with CHI Franciscan continued until September 2016. Earlier that year, Franciscan announced its departure from the island, citing the clinic’s increasing unprofitability. This was partly due to an 87% drop in donations from Granny’s Attic between 2010 and 2015. Additionally, monthly patient visits had decreased from nearly 1,000 in 2013 to around 750 in 2016.

To retain CHI Franciscan, the community organized a campaign called Save Our Clinic, led by Rick Wallace and Tag Gornal, which successfully raised more than $470,000 — 20% above their initial goal. Despite this support, CHI Franciscan announced in 2019 that they would be closing the clinic.

Islanders quickly sought a new provider to operate the health clinic. Neighborcare Health stepped in to offer basic services at the Sunrise Ridge site starting in September 2019.

The new clinic’s Medical Director, Jessica Wesch, remarked: “I believe as a community, we have come out with a much better solution for our health care needs. Neighborcare Health … has a mission to provide health care for all, to everyone in the community, with the goal of 100 percent access and zero health care disparity. … This is an incredible thing in this age of health care.”

While this was an admirable goal, it was one that Neighborcare could not fully achieve on Vashon.

While Neighborcare took over the operation of the clinic on Vashon, the arrangement faced challenges from the beginning, primarily due to financial constraints. Medical services were becoming increasingly corporatized as the consolidation of medical providers accelerated; between 2012 and 2024 the percentage of physicians in private practice dropped from 60% to only 22%. Costs soared due to increases in technology, record-keeping and other operational expenses.

The Health Care District is born

Concerns about the future of Neighborcare on the island led residents to form Protect Vashon Health Care, which developed a third proposal to create a health care district (technically called a hospital district under state law). The group raised more than $60,000 for their campaign, and the proposal was put to a vote in November 2019.

Opponents of the measure pointed to the potential tax burden on middle and low-income residents. Islander Hillary Emmer argued: “Health care is a human right which should be available to all, but a new tax on those who need help the most is not the way to solve it.”

On the other hand, former Beachcomber Editor Leslie Brown supported the measure, saying: “What ultimately convinced me are two issues: The effect on Vashon’s social fabric if we do nothing and the quality of the candidates who are running.”

The third effort to create a health care district succeeded with a strong 71% to 27% vote. The dramatic shift in public opinion since the 2005 vote was influenced by the uncertainty that followed CHI Franciscan’s departure in 2016, the difficulties faced with Neighborcare, and a robust educational campaign emphasizing the need to maintain a health clinic on Vashon.

Although the health care district was approved in November 2019, funds from the levy were not available until 2021. To keep operations going, the district borrowed from King County to support Neighborcare through 2020.

In May 2020, a request for provider contracts was issued, but the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020, led to no responses. Efforts to extend Neighborcare’s contract failed, and Neighborcare announced their departure from the island in October 2020, when their lease expired.

Facing the prospect of no health care provider, the newly-formed Vashon Health Care District reached an agreement with Sea Mar Clinic to take over operations starting in November 2020. Sea Mar agreed to manage the Sunrise Ridge clinic for an annual subsidy from the Health Care District of $1.5 million, which was reduced to $1.1 million in 2022.

However, the relationship between SeaMar and the Health Care District soured over 2021 and 2022, and by the end of 2022, the partnership had ended. Sea Mar now operates independently and no longer receives a subsidy from the health care district. Since their split, the district and Sea Mar have remained in contact with each other: “We came to a mutual understanding … and I’d like to think the relationship’s a little better,” Health Care District Superintendent Tim Johnson said in late 2023.

In the aftermath of the split, the health care district has diversified their budget to fund several other priorities, including mobile urgent care by DispatchHealth; behavioral health services provided by other island organizations such as the schools; and care for vulnerable adults.

The District has also created significant reserves in case Sea Mar leaves the island.

The former Spinnaker Restaurant property is waiting to be transformed into the new Sea Mar clinic. The project, which has been held up by the permitting process at King County, is one of many steps the island is taking this year and next to expand health care options for residents. (Terry Donnelly photo)

Islanders now face a complex, overlapping network of health care providers and services. The Beachcomber has and will continue to examine the various available services, and the challenges residents must navigate, in future issues.

These include the Sea Mar Clinic at Sunrise Ridge, Vashon Fire and Rescue’s Mobile Integrated Health program, the Vashon Health Care District’s partnership with DispatchHealth, Vashon Pharmacy’s expansion into healthcare clinical services, Vashon Youth and Family Services, The DOVE Project, Neighborcare’s school clinic, and a range of alternative medical services.

Bruce Haulman is an island historian. John Stratton is an islander who is a retired UW School of Medicine Cardiologist. Terry Donnelly is an island photographer. Time & Again is a news column examining Vashon-Maury Island’s history.