The Vashon-Maury Health Collaborative will host a meeting this evening regarding creating sustainable health care on Vashon.

The meeting, set for 7 to 9 p.m. tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 19) at the Land Trust Building, is the second meeting in a series and will be focused on what islanders would like on Vashon for health care services. More meetings will follow as part of the community dialog on the issue and will include a meeting soon on options to pay for potential services.

Islander Tim Johnson will moderate the meeting tonight, assisted by fellow collaborative members. Neighborcare Health CEO Michael Erikson will also attend.

This meeting follows another earlier this month, when Neighborcare Health officials addressed some of the financial challenges they are facing at the island clinic and heard from islanders about their concerns, including long wait times for appointments and difficulties with the phone system.

“The three meetings are designed as a countdown, or starter if you will, to a larger community discussion regarding island health care. Our goal is to discuss what we have, what we need and want, and how to achieve sustainability,” Johnson said.