‘No change’ is anything but | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 2:41 pm Wednesday, May 21, 2014

To the editor:

Now that hospitals are required to post their policies on end-of-life-care on the Department of Health’s website, it’s clear that our community was misled about the impacts of Harrison Medical Center’s affiliation with Franciscan, a Catholic health care system.

Scott Bosch, the CEO of Harrison promised there would be “no changes” in Harrison’s medical care.

On the contrary, Harrison’s new policy on the Washington Death With Dignity Act (DWDA) reveals that Harrison physicians are now strictly forbidden from participating in the DWDA, a policy that puts a terrible burden on dying patients in our community. The new policy also includes unprecedented language attempting to control Harrison physicians who choose to participate in the DWDA on their own time, stating they must report their participation to “the Medical Center’s Vice President.”

Apparently the words “no change” mean something very different to Mr. Bosch and Harrison Medical Center than it does to the residents of Kitsap County and Washington voters, who passed the DWDA with nearly 60 percent of the vote.

DICK BAKER

Bainbridge Island