The following was submitted by the Orcas Island Health Care District.

The Orcas Island Health Care District is hosting its second town hall meeting on Thursday, Sept. 20. The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eastsound Firehall.

The first town hall was very well attended and the format solicited a lot of feedback. The commissioners spent more than an hour answering questions from attendees on a variety of topics related to the purchase of the clinic building from Orcas Medical Foundation, the district’s long and short-term financing strategies and after-hours care. The format for the second meeting will be similar. In addition to brief updates from the various committees and work groups, the board plans to share initial results from the September survey that was launched by Madrona Voices on Sept. 10. The survey can be viewed here: https://www.madronavoices.com/.

The commissioners appreciated how engaged participants were during the first town hall and hope for an equally engaging discussion on Sept. 20. One takeaway from the meeting was that there wasn’t good representation from all age groups on Orcas. The commissioners recognize that families with children have different needs than single millennials, seniors or even part-time residents. It’s important for the commissioners to understand how each demographic is feeling about what’s working well and where there are opportunities for improvement in delivering health care on Orcas. The commissioners strongly encourage everyone to make an effort to make your voice heard as the information will help to inform the board’s longer-term activities and focus.

For additional information or to ask questions, feel free to contact District Superintendent Anne Presson. Presson’s contact information, as well as other important information about OIHCD, can be found at www.orcashealth.org.