Dear friends and neighbors,

The busy pace of the legislature doesn’t end when session does, the setting just changes.

Interim is the time between legislative sessions that most legislators use to meet with folks in their communities and really drill down on the needs and challenges we all face and carry that with us back to Olympia.

Since session ended in March, I’ve zig zagged across our district visiting with farmers, touring construction projects funded by the state’s capital budget, stopped by some schools and talked with people from all walks of life in communities across the peninsula.

Here are some more details about a few of these recent visits.

Strengthening relations with our neighbors to the north

In June I had the opportunity to be a part of the British Columbia-Washington State Interparliamentary Group. This bilateral partnership between our state and B.C. brings together lawmakers from both sides of the border and people from all political parties to discuss how we can work together on the challenges we face as well as strengthen our economic relationship.

Topics included trade (although this discussion took place prior to the president’s latest round of tariffs), coordination during natural disasters, housing, environmental protection, energy and a number of other issues.

It’s important that we have these opportunities to communicate directly with each other. I don’t have to tell any of you that our relationship with Canada is unfortunately way more complicated at this moment than it should be. We share a border and so much else with our Canadian neighbors and it is in the best interests of us all to maintain a strong, mutually beneficial relationship that dates back nearly 200 years.

Protecting health care

Health care is one of the issues I hear most about. Costs are rising and access is limited due to the federal government’s Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Rural communities like ours are at even greater risk as hospitals endure funding challenges and fight to keep their doors open and services available.

Over the last few months, I’ve met with health care professionals around our district to learn more about their needs and the barriers they face trying to provide folks on the peninsula access to the services they need.

Rural Nursing Leadership Symposium. In June I had the opportunity to participate in a rural nursing symposium in Port Townsend. I sat on a bipartisan panel and heard directly from nurses about the demands and challenges they face in this increasingly important profession that continues to be stretched thin post-Covid. We talked about short staffing, difficult clientele, security concerns and other issues faced by nurses, particularly those serving rural communities.

This was a sobering discussion and gave everyone that participated a better sense of the situation on the ground and even more cause to push for policies that support nurses that help all of us at our most vulnerable moments.

Senate Health & Long-Term Care rural hospital tour. Our senate committee had the opportunity to tour Island Health in Anacortes and Whidbey Health in Coupeville to hear from those on the ground the challenges rural health care providers must work through.

These tours were followed by a roundtable discussion that involved providers as well as state agency representatives from the Health Care Authority, Dept. of Health, Insurance Commissioner’s Office and others. This was another eye-opening experience and a good reminder of the importance of coordination when it comes to supporting patients and providers.

More care for our communities. I had the pleasure of visiting two facilities that will provide vital and potentially life-changing services for people living on the peninsula. The Quinault Wellness Center in Aberdeen and the expansion of the Summit Pacific Medical Center in Elma are two places that will offer a wider array of services and much-needed access at a time that both are in short supply.

The Quinault Wellness Center provides whole-person substance use disorder treatment for non-Tribal and Tribal members alike. It first opened in October 2022 through a $20 million investment by the Quinault Indian Nation but quickly reached its original 250-patient capacity. A 2024 capital budget investment will increase capacity to 600 patients.

The completed expansion of the Summit Pacific Medical Center, also accomplished with the help of capital budget funding and seen in the ribbon cutting photo above, means more access to emergency, inpatient, diagnostic, rehabilitation, and specialty care for Grays Harbor County and surrounding communities.

As communities across the country struggle to ensure patients have access to the care we need, I was encouraged to meet so many wonderful people working to meet those needs. It’s our job in the legislature to better support them and to spell out the very real consequences of H.R. 1 and the devastating impacts it is having on people’s health care.

Stay in touch 
Our office is always ready to help you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us and share your thoughts or concerns. This work can’t — and shouldn’t — happen without you. 

Thank you for being such an essential part of our community and for your continued trust. It is an honor to serve you in Olympia. 

Mike Chapman