Keeping Vashon healthy
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Last week, it was heartening to attend Vashon Health Care District’s forum that provided a snapshot of many recent improvements and changes in Vashon’s health care scene.
It was also a remarkable and rare opportunity to see representatives of virtually all of Vashon’s health care providers — Vashon Fire & Rescue, Sea Mar Clinic, Vashon Natural Medicine, Vashon Mobile Integrated Health, DispatchHealth, Vashon Pharmacy and the Neighborcare Health’s school clinic — sitting down at the same table to explain their work and sometimes overlapping services.
The Health Care District is to be commended for arranging the very well-attended forum. It was clear that many islanders genuinely came to the forum to seek information, rather than debate policy and choose sides over which service might be better than another.
The fact of the matter is that all of these providers are making Vashon healthier. Sea Mar is currently building a modern clinic that will at long last replace the aging health care clinic at Sunrise Ridge, while Vashon Natural Medicine, a longtime clinic serving many island patients, continues its tradition of providing a high level of care.
Mobile Integrated Health and DispatchHealth are both now offering solutions for islanders who no longer need to travel off-island to access urgent care, post-hospital follow-up care and other emergent conditions. And Vashon Pharmacy’s remarkable recent expansion to provide clinical services for islanders has also filled an important need.
But wait, there’s more to be happy about: Neighborcare’s school-based clinic for island children is also doing truly remarkable work: offering health and even dental care throughout the school year to all school-aged children on Vashon that that comes with zero out-of-pocket expenses to parents.
Meanwhile, Vashon Island Fire & Rescue’s heroic staff of firefighters and EMTs are standing by, ready to provide swift emergency care and transport to off-island hospitals.
For a rural and ferry-dependent island of just over 10,000 people, to have all these services now available is remarkable. And yes, our tax revenue helps pay for many of these life-saving services, but considering the alternative, we believe its worth it.
Still, some questions remain after the forum. We’ll be following up on Sea Mar’s progress to fully staff its new clinic, as adequate staffing has been a problem at its current location. We also want to know much more about its decision to offer pharmacy services at the new clinic, and how that will affect Vashon Pharmacy — an essential, beloved and independently-owned cornerstone of the island’s healthcare landscape that is just steps away from the new clinic.
Watch this space for more reporting on these questions. Here at The Beachcomber, we’re committed to keeping you informed about developments that affect the health of our community.
