I have the exact problem that Coleen O’Brien outlined in her letter published on www.islandssounder.com on Feb. 27.

The University of Washington Medical Clinic on Orcas has notified me that even though I have been a patient at that facility for a number of years, they will no longer do blood draws and run lab work for physicians outside the UW system. I have an oncologist at Swedish who has seen me through a lot, including a stem cell transplant. They are not part of the UW system but can access their Ecare charting system. The Orcas UW Medical Clinic notified me that I need to use only UW providers for my medical needs if I want to have my blood work done on island. This is more akin to an ultimatum to me, and to us as a community, than an indication that UW desires to work with our community to provide our health care needs.

Gregory Kramer

Orcas Island