South Island Medical closed its Freeland, Wash., clinic Sept. 9 and shifted operations to North Island Medical in Oak Harbor, its sister practice roughly 29 miles away, both owned by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Beyond Health, The South Whidbey Record reported Sept. 18.
The independent full-service family practice offered acute and primary care, family medicine, prescription refills and on-site lab services. Some providers who previously worked at South Island Medical now see patients at WhidbeyHealth Primary Care in Freeland, according to Brandy Butler, executive director of marketing and community relations for WhidbeyHealth.
Aggie Mirto, vice president of clinical operations at BeyondHealth, said South Island Medical did not stop operations but relocated and consolidated with North Island Medical. Ms. Mirto said the change was conveyed to patients through phone calls, social media and notices posted at the facility.
Some South Whidbey residents say they learned of the closure only after showing up at the shuttered office. Pat Driscoll, a South Whidbey resident, told the Record that he and his wife tried contacting South Island Medical for two weeks without a response before discovering it had closed. “We don’t believe we’re being serviced well by the medical associations which we’ve been dealing with for the last 10 years,” Mr. Driscoll said.
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