Thank You Lopez Clinic Staff and Providers
The Lopez Island Hospital District (https://lopezislandhd.org) would like to publicly thank all the current providers and staff of the UW Lopez Island Medical Clinic. During the busy summer season and in the midst of a temporary staffing shortage, they are working hard to provide primary health care for Lopez residents and visitors. In particular, we’d like to thank Dr. Matt Jaffy for his support of the Lopez Clinic. Dr. Jaffy serves as the Associate Medical Director of the North Region, UW Primary Care Clinics including Lopez. Aware of the temporary staffing shortage, Dr. Jaffy came to Lopez this week to cover some primary care appointments. He has provided clinic and telemedicine visits for Lopez patients, deferring other clinical and administrative duties to support Lopez.
Dr. Jaffy’s role is an example of some of the less visible ways the UW assists the Clinic on Lopez. In fact, UW Medicine Primary Care provides staff to supervise nursing care, administrative functions, and fiscal management. These staff attend weekly staff meetings, monthly leadership meetings, quarterly quality meetings, and monthly Hospital District board meetings. They also participate in publication of the “Health Matters 2.0” newsletter. All this administrative assistance is provided at no cost to the Lopez Clinic.
The UW’s support has led to several improvements at the Lopez Clinic. This fall, for the first time ever, there will be three providers (physician, nurse practitioner, and physician’s assistant) available. The physician and physician’s assistant will work full time on Lopez; the nurse practitioner will divide time between telemedicine visits and seeing patients on Lopez. In addition, Virtual Primary Care (https://www.uwmedicine.org/virtual-care) is an exciting new service, now available to Lopez residents. Virtual Primary Care allows same-day access to a UW Medicine provider for last-minute health concerns and other primary care needs. These providers can review the patient’s chart and provide care recommendations. This service is available from home (or anywhere in Washington state), 7 days a week, 8 AM to 8 PM, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. More information about how to receive virtual care is available at https://www.uwmedicine.org/virtual-care/telemedicine.
While the Lopez Clinic is down one provider with a new provider starting this fall, the Lopez Clinic is committed to seeing any patient with acute problems the same day. If you feel you need to be seen immediately, you can call the Clinic directly at 360-468-2245, Monday-Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM. Additionally, providers work directly with EMS staff to review acuteness and need for potential transport. We applaud them all for their dedication.
Lopez Island Hospital District Commissioners