Frequently Asked Questions About the Recommendation of our Preferred Partner: Sea Mar Community Health Centers
QUALITY HEALTH CARE
Sea Mar has agreed to operate the clinic Monday – Friday, 8 am – 5 pm, at a minimum. The clinic will operate in the same building.
Patients will call the Lopez Clinic directly to schedule appointments and for other needs.
Sea Mar has agreed that the Lopez Clinic will have a minimum of 1.5 FTE medical providers, at least one of which will be a doctor. After a final contract is signed, Sea Mar will work to recruit a doctor for the Lopez Clinic.
Sea Mar has agreed to honor patient preferences in referrals to specialists and hospitals.
EPIC/MyChart is the records system used by Sea Mar health clinics, so we anticipate a smooth transition between UW and Sea Mar.
Sea Mar accepts many major types of insurance, including Medicare, Medicaid, Ambetter, United HealthCare, WellPoint, Molina, and CHPW. For a full list of insurance accepted by Sea Mar, visit https://lopezislandhd.org/sea-mar-2026-health-dental-insurance-list/
Sea Mar has agreed to offer a position to every current clinic staff member and match their current salary. Sea Mar has a proven record of recruiting medical providers in small communities and remote rural areas and offer programs to attract staff, such as paid training programs for medical assistant prospects.
Sea Mar offers after-hours telephone triage and medical advice.
Sea Mar has agreed to grant 24/7 access to the clinic for use by Lopez Fire/EMS in order to stabilize patients.
Sea Mar has met with Lopez Pharmacy, Lopez Physical Therapy, and Lopez-based Bayview Dental and toured their facilities to start building strong working relationships.
Patient experience surveys shared by Sea Mar from 2025 indicate high levels of patient satisfaction, especially interactions with medical providers.
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
Through careful financial management, the Lopez Island Hospital District has built up a reserve that is in addition to the tax levy funds collected each year and sufficient to cover anticipated start-up costs. The District’s reserve stands at $600,000 as of January 2026.
Sea Mar is a Federally Qualified Health Center, which would enable the Lopez Medical Clinic to receive additional federal resources.
A reduced subsidy from the Hospital District suggests that no additional tax levy would be anticipated and funds may be available to explore investments in other services such as after-hours care.
INFORMED BY LOPEZ VIEWS AND VALUES
Operating more than 90 community-based clinics, Sea Mar has a 48-year history of delivering quality primary health care to diverse communities in Washington State. Many Sea Mar clinics are located in small communities and rural areas, including eight Skagit clinics in Mount Vernon, Anacortes and Concrete. Sea Mar is a Federally Qualified Health Center, which will enable the Lopez Medical clinic to receive additional federal funding.
Founded by Latino community activists and health care advocates, Sea Mar was one of the first community health centers accredited by Joint Commission and has received the Gold Seal of Approval by demonstrating compliance with national standards for health care quality and safety. Reviews of their quality outcomes indicate high quality health care at a reasonable cost.
Serving the health care needs of a small, remote community is in keeping with Sea Mar’s mission of delivering high-quality health care to underserved communities. Sea Mar is enthusiastic about the prospect of operating the Lopez Clinic, which would be aligned with their thriving Skagit County practice. Sea Mar has indicated that they are planning for the long-term and would like to attract more Lopezians to use the Lopez Clinic.
Sea Mar has many clinics operating in small communities and rural areas. A few examples in Northwest Washington include:
Skagit County:
Mount Vernon Women’s Clinic
Mount Vernon Medical Clinic
Mount Vernon Maternity Services
Mount Vernon Dental Clinic
Mount Vernon Health Care for the Homeless
Anacortes Behavioral Health Clinic
Concrete Medical Clinic
Island County:
Oak Harbor Dental Clinic
Oak Harbor Behavioral Health Clinic
Whatcom County:
Everson Medical Clinic
Ferndale WIC and Maternity Support Services Clinic
Clallam County:
Port Angeles Dental Clinic
Snohomish County:
Monroe Medical Clinic
Monroe Dental Clinic
Monroe Maternity Services
INDEPENDENT CLINIC
A joint committee of the Hospital District and the Catherine Washburn Medical Association vigorously explored the option of establishing an independent clinic on Lopez as a Plan B if they could not contract with a healthcare system as the clinic operator.
This exploration included consultations with outside consultants with legal and financial expertise and revealed significant legal and administrative hurdles to establishing an independent clinic under Washington state law.
Extensive research by community members and expert consultants has revealed several daunting requirements for an independent clinic, including developing a new business structure and identifying affordable sources for required centralized systems. Research into Washington State law revealed that the Hospital District cannot by law operate the clinic or hire medical personnel directly.
Of the eight health systems responding to our request for proposals, all but Sea Mar have either withdrawn from consideration to provide a long-term solution or it has been determined they are unable to meet the community requirements to operate the clinic.
Currently, LIHD is in negotiations with Sea Mar to contract with them to operate the Lopez Clinic.
The LIHD and CWMA are currently not continuing with researching the potential of an Independent Clinic as they are in negotiations with Sea Mar Community Health Centers to operator the Clinic. The Independent Clinic Group met their task of determining if an Independent Clinic was feasible on the Island and consultants added to that work.
NEXT STEPS
Yes, we had a Town Hall on February 23, 2026 to give Lopez residents the opportunity to learn more about Sea Mar and ask questions.
We will inform the community of any Special Meetings or Town Halls that we will have as we work toward a finalized contract in early March and then transition the clinic in June 2026.
The community is always also welcome at our Regular Board Meetings where we conduct the business of the Hospital District and hear and give reports regarding our community partners. We generally also have a brief report about the clinic transition around 5:00 pm at these meetings. Scheduled for February 25, March 25, April 22, May 27, and June 24 from 4:00-6:00 pm at the LIFRC Meeting Room and by Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3903428884
In early March, LIHD and Sea Mar counsel began work on creating a Definitive Agreement (operating agreement/contract) for the LIHD board to review and sign. That work is now complete, and a Special Meeting is set for March 17, 2026 at 5:30 pm for the LIHD Board to review the completed Sea Mar Clinic Services Agreement and potentially approve the agreement.