By Jeff Noedel
Sounder contributor
Earlier this year, two unrelated factors caused the Mount Baker Planned Parenthood clinic in Friday Harbor to reduce its clinic hours from every week to once every third week.
With a sign taped on the door and the lights off for two weeks at a time, some citizens have been alarmed at the prospects for the Planned Parenthood clinic in San Juan County.
Nathan Butler, Superintendent and EMS Chief Administrator of the San Juan County Hospital District No. 1, is in the best position among local leaders to know about the state of the Planned Parenthood clinic. MBPP, formed in 1969, operates a clinic in Bellingham, with satellites in Mount Vernon and Friday Harbor.
San Juan County Hospital District No. 1 coordinates with several organizations offering reproductive services including Peace Island Medical Center, MBPP, Washington Reproductive Access Alliance, and Washington State Apple Health.
Said Butler, “I can confirm that Mount Baker Planned Parenthood has not closed in Friday Harbor. They are working on closing in on their newest nurse practitioner, and once that happens they will be putting providers back in the Friday Harbor rotation.”
Butler explained that the retirement of MBPP CEO Linda McCarthy has arrived at the same time that the recruitment challenges shared by all employers in the San Juans to attract talent have left the Friday Harbor clinic in need of another nurse.
McCarthy has run the organization for 21 years and this summer announced her decision to retire at the end of the year. She has been with the organization since 1977.
McCarthy said that “during the last month or two, they did close temporarily, but are close to restoring services. In the meanwhile they’ve been mailing people what they need.”
Butler said it’s hard to imagine what MBPP will look like without McCarthy at the helm.
He added, “They are probably genuinely overwhelmed trying to find a replacement for her. Because you got to find someone that has the technical skills, but also like a set of political skills, and just the ability to endure a lot of abuse.”
Butler put the staffing challenges in a national perspective.
“The truth is communities across the country and even the world are really struggling with a lot of the same problems, like the housing shortage. It’s a huge problem,’ he said.
For links to a range of reproductive services available in San Juan County, visit https://sjcphd1.org/reproductive-services/.
