Whatcom Deserves a Public Hospital
We are worth it. Whatcom County residents deserve a hospital or a network of clinics that works more closely in tune with the people. It may be a long term project but we can build momentum.
Rome wasn't built in a day. If you plan for Whatcom's future, plan for a public hospital.
Any implementation of a public hospital or network of clinics must be wide open for discussion and analysis. It would be a subject of democratic processes. It would be ours.
.We don't have a public hospital?
Except for the Point Roberts Public Hospital District we do not. We primarily have PeaceHealth which is described generally as a non-profit with religious affiliations.
What kind of hospital do you mean?
More specifically a Public Hospital District. This could take many forms in practice. To the website author it just makes sense to call the district a hospital for conversation and this website.
An article "What do you know about Public Hospital Districts?" by the Salish Current explains more.
Who else has advocated for a Public Hospital in Whatcom County?
The Whatcom Democrats include it as one item in their platform
Whatcom DSA has also advocated for a public hospital in the past
Better Off Public: Quality of Care
PeaceHealth comes at a cost. PeaceHealth has made cuts to services and made a push for providers to see more patients1.
Additionally, PeaceHealth billed thousands of low-income patients without notifying them that they were likely eligible for financial assistance with their hospital bills2.
A public hospital could be more responsive and would be much more connected to community. We should be prepared for a public future.
References
1Cascadia Daily News: Frustration with PeaceHealth has become a political issue - October 2, 2023
Better Off Public: Freedom of Religion in Healthcare
Promote freedom of expression and protections for more diversity within healthcare by providing a public hospital or network of clinics. This includes for those of different faiths and secular people alike than just currently promoted by Saint Josephs Hospital as the only one in the county.
This is just a website. It could be more.
Some day organically this website could become in support of a policy or proposal. For right now it is just a website about my support for a public hospital in Whatcom County in the long term.
Learn more background
A post sponsored by PeaceHealth about the history of hospitals in the area.
A video about Public Hospital Districts by the Association of WA Public Hospital Districts.
A video titled #Gov101: Public Hospital Districts by the Washington State Auditor’s Office.
Reddit Thread: The Subreddits feelings on St Josephs Hospital
An article "What do you know about Public Hospital Districts?" by the Salish Current
Contact with your thoughts on a Public Hospital in Whatcom County
Thank you for some form submissions earlier! Lots of research to do
The preferred means of communication about this website are through Email, a GitHub issue on this website or through Facebook.
Plans for future development of this website
1. Integrate Action Network or some other CMS into the website for a newsletter email campaign function
2. Produce visuals, graphics related to a Public Hospital in Whatcom County
Accessibility Statement
Accessibility Statement for Whatcom Public Hospital
This is an accessibility statement from WhatcomPublicHospital.org.
Measures to support accessibility
WhatcomPublicHospital.org volunteers take the following measures to ensure accessibility of the website WhatcomPublicHospital.org:
- Include accessibility as part of our mission statement.
- Assign clear accessibility goals and responsibilities.
Conformance status
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Whatcom Public Hospital is assessed with WCAG 2.1 level AA. It has been assessed to conformance which means that the content has been evaluated as having no programmatic issues.
Feedback
We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Whatcom Public Hospital. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on Whatcom Public Hospital:
- The contact form on this webpage.
- Leave an issue on the GitHub repo by @airbr on GitHub
We try to respond to feedback within 2 business days.
Date
This statement was created on 27 June 2024 using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool.