The Journal of the San Juan Islands reported that Eventide Health will be changing from a fee-for-service, insurance model to a Direct Primary Care model practice on March 31, 2022.

First, you may ask where are the San Juan Islands? San Juan Islands, consisting of more than 170 islands are part of a submerged mountain chain in upper Puget Sound off the coast of Washington state and near the Canadian border.

Now, back to our story. Dr. Willian House and his wife Sherrie first fell in love with the Salish Sea over twenty years ago, and they made a move to Friday Harbor with their daughters Jackie and Savannah and their dog Hooper in December 2019. Dr. House then began treating patients at Eventide under the standard fee-for service model, but mid-2021 he realized that this style of practice was not going to be sustainable for the small practice. Without enough revenue coming in, he realized he would need to make a change or else he would have to shut down the practice. That’s when he began to seriously study and consider Direct Primary Care as the option that would save his practice and also provide quality care for his patients. Dr. House states:

We know that change is hard for the community. It’s hard for us. Keeping a rural healthcare clinic open throughout the pandemic has been the single hardest thing of my life,” House said. “I’ve wanted to quit more times than I can count, but I love this community. I wish the current system weren’t so broken. I wish there was another way, but after many months of agonizing over what to do, praying, discussing, praying again and doing our best to stay committed despite everything thrown at us. DPC is the way we must go.

DPC News wishes Eventide Health success in its transition to a DPC practice. The rest of the DPC community is here to support you. We look forward to hearing updates.