West Marin Health Coalition


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About the Coalition

After several closed meetings the Coalition held its first public meeting at the Dance  Palace in point Reyes Station on January 29, 2009. It was then and there that the purposes of the organization were first presented. The following report by Ellen Shehadeh was published in The West Marin Citizen.

While the rest of the country is fiercely debating healthcare legislation, West Marin is dealing calmly and strategically with its own health care issues. The tenuous nature of healthcare in West Marin came to the fore with the departure of primary care doctor Molly Bourne from the West Marin Medical Center in 2007, after eight years of service. Hundreds of patients, including many who were frail and elderly, were left without a primary doctor. Existing medical institutions such as the Coastal Health Alliance scrambled to fill the void. Several West Marin citizens including Suzanne Speh, Michael Mery and others stepped in to establish a bridge loan that would sustain Dr. Whitt's practice, and provide funds to hire another primary care doctor. Dr. Eileen Gleber arrived on the scene several months later to join Dr. Whitt's practice. She has been providing primary care to Dr. Bourne's patients and others ever since.

Now creative West Marin minds have conceived of a plan which might provide local residents with stable and convenient healthcare; a medical center that could house health care providers on one "campus" and would promote financial savings for providers by giving them the opportunity to join forces for internet providers, bookkeeping, waiting rooms and other maintenance necessities. Said Mike Durrie, one of the prime movers on this project, "Right now each provider is re-inventing the wheel."

This concept has been tried successfully in other rural areas, such as the El Camino Healthcare District in Sunnyvale, Durrie said. Of course funding is the main challenge in such a project. One option might be to create a Special District with the power to tax homeowners, just as the Inverness Public Utility District does now. Another possibility might be to hold an annual major fundraiser, currently being done in Napa and Mendocino counties, which could attract donors from outside our small West Marin pond. Other funding sources and collaborators are also being explored such as the Marin Community Foundation and Kaiser.

Suzanne Speh and Mike Durrie met with Steve Kinsey and Liza Crosse on Wednesday. Kinsey was very supportive of the concept and had many good suggestions. John Severson, Executive Director of the Coastal Health Alliance, says that healthcare providers in West Marin face a "dual challenge." Everyone is outgrowing existing spaces and no one is well financed to build new facilities. He also sees the possibility of "co-housing" healthcare providers as a way "to make it easier on patients, such as the increasing elderly population of West Marin" while providing financial economy for everyone involved.

"We are just getting to a feasibility study," said Severson. He explained that a consultant is required to look at legal issues of housing profit and non-profit under one roof, site and parking requirements, range of costs and kinds of financing available. "This is a project of enough public good" that large foundations and the county would be inclined to participate. With the availability of funds the project could move faster, and conceivably be a reality in five years. One possible site mentioned is the open space behind Toby's currently owned by the county. Other options are also being explored.