Hospital district goes for enhanced 'status quo'

(Ed. Note: This story was originally published online August 20 and has been updated with new information that appeared in print for the September issue of All Point Bulletin.)

In a 2-1 decision, Point Roberts hospital district commissioners voted to award the service provider contract to the current operator, Bellingham’s SuperTrack Urgent Care clinic. Commissioners Kandace Harper and Richard Dennis voted in favor of continuity while Stephen Falk voted for the challenger, the Shields Company.

There were 40 or more people in attendance at the special remote Zoom meeting held August 18. The special meeting was held after district superintendent Barbara Wayland, commissioner Harper and members of the public called for more time to examine the competing proposals at the district’s regular meeting held one week earlier. Being a special meeting, no public comments were allowed.

Harper began the discussion by stating, “I would like SuperTrack to continue providing the clinic’s services,” adding, “The infrastructure to do so is already in place and viable. SuperTrack is financially stable and established, they have experienced billers and have a large medical staff for backup. They have experience with telemedicine … they have experience negotiating with insurance companies and healthcare IT.”

She pointed out that when SuperTrack first began operating the clinic, the principals agreed to provide services to patients even before arrangements had been completed with health insurers and had never been reimbursed for those costs.

Harper described the process of transferring patient information from the previous provider, UnityCare, as “a nightmare” and said the pandemic had added stress to Point Roberts residents. “Changing to a new provider without experience in running a medical clinic would add more

stress and turmoil,” she said.

Harper discussed enhancements to the contract such as service seven days per week promised by SuperTrack and concluded that her vote was to continue with SuperTrack.

Dennis too began by saying he intended to vote for SuperTrack before launching into a long and reasoned explanation for his vote, which was marred by frequent juddering and pauses due to a poor internet connection. He too listed the enhancements promised by SuperTrack and pointed to the company’s intention to have a doctor at the clinic at least once a week as a major factor behind his decision.

Dennis listed a number of advantages underlying both companies’ offerings and complimented both of them on presenting excellent proposals. He gave the edge to SuperTrack due to the higher involvement by doctors compared to the Shields Company, whose medical director and supervising physician, Dr. Min Lin, had said it was unlikely that he would visit the clinic on a frequent basis.

Falk said he remained supportive of the Shields Company proposal and said he felt the other two commissioners were relying upon submissions from the public that maintained “things were good enough” and didn’t warrant a change from the current provider. “In my mind, the people that we are praising are actually Deb [Shields] and Virginia [Lester] so the people that we are praising when we’re praising SuperTrack are Deb and Virginia.” Shields and Lester were both included as front-line medical providers in the Shields Company’s proposal.

Falk said he felt that SuperTrack had shown a lack of commitment to the clinic for about a year before the pandemic struck.

In the week following the meeting, rumors flew that Lester had resigned from the clinic, which she has denied.

“Originally, I was angry at the commissioners’ decision and thought I might quit, but I want to stay neutral for the good of the clinic,” she said. An important factor in her decision was the importance of the clinic in maintaining weekly Covid-19 testing. “It’s critical that it continues,” she said.

Lester, now 87-years-old, and her husband Ed worked with a newly formed hospital district in 2002 to start the clinic. She retired in 2012 but returned to the clinic in early 2019, working with Shields until the latter was dismissed after she announced plans to bid for the clinic contract.

While she had supported the Shields Company proposal, Lester said she would work with SuperTrack to help them deliver on their promise of improved services for Point Roberts patients. “I think this was a wake-up call for them as well,” she said. “They are already talking about adding two days of telemedicine to the three days we are open.”