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Congressman Norman Dicks and Senator Warren G. Magnuson are shown in a newspaper photo taken at the Deed Transfer Ceremony in 1976.
The Vashon-Maury Health Services Center at Sunrise Ridge has served our two islands since 1974. It began small with three Nurse Practitioners in a tiny rented two bedroom house in Burton. The living room was the reception and waiting area, the kitchen served as a lab, and the bedrooms became exam rooms. Specially trained in a Master's program at the UW, the Registered Nurses were Merrily Allen, May Clarke Lee and Jackie Robinette. Volunteers served as receptionists.
The Health Center soon outgrew this first home and moved to Vashon to larger quarters. Dr. Robert Sullivan offered to back up the RNP's two days a week. Interns from Dr. Joseph Scardapanes's Family Practice training program at Swedish Hospital rotated through the Health Center. Growth was steady and strong. A mobile unit was added behind the building, yet still more space was needed. To provide that space, the volunteer Board of Directors and many dedicated Islanders worked for several years to acquire the 14 acre surplus former NIKE missile site. Senator Warren G. Magnuson and Congressman Norm Dicks threw their weight into the effort, and in 1976, after extensive remodeling, the Health Center moved to its permanent home. A volunteer Board of Directors has guided the growth of VHC for 30 years, and three of the people who began the clinic in 1972 are still members. In addition to clinical medical care, VHC has also offered programs and services such as drug rehabilitation, childbirth classes, smoking cessation classes and Home Health Care.
In recent years because of lower reimbursements of Federal funds for welfare patients (the Social Services Reform Act of 1997), yearly losses were covered by Granny's Attic. Then a poor economy kept many from getting needed care. The combination caused many clinics to close and doctors to leave their practices. Granny's Attic could no longer cover all our losses, so in September, 2001, a merger was arranged with the Highline Medical Group, a compatible non-profit medical enterprise with similar goals and objectives.
This move preserved and strengthened medical care for Islanders, and guaranteed the 24-hour care that has been provided for over 30 years would be continued.
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