Summit Pacific Medical Center, operated by a public hospital district, has a vision of Grays Harbor as one of the healthiest counties in the state, if not the nation.

It’s a big goal considering the county has been at the opposite end of that spectrum for years, but so far in July, Hospital District 2 has taken some big first steps toward achieving it.

Recent developments include the health care version of fireworks — an announcement that its residency program was approved and new doctors will begin seeing patients there next year.

On Thursday, July 18, the district received news it would get an almost $750,000 grant to help start the newly approved residency program. Then it held a grand opening for its new playground and exercise track.

And just two days earlier, Summit Pacific hosted a community meeting to discuss whether the services Blue Zones, LLC offers in helping communities transform health practices would be a good fit for area.

Representatives from the federal Department of Health and Human Services visited Elma to announce that it had received one of 27 grants given in support of similar residency programs in 21 states.

“We are happy to announce that Summit Pacific Medical Center is one of the new Rural Residency Planning and Development program awardees,” said Sharon Turner, regional administrator for DHHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration, which administers the multiyear grants.

“Every year, HRSA’s more than 90 programs serve tens of millions of people, including people living with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, mothers and their families, and those otherwise unable to access quality health care,” she added. HRSA also supports the training of health professionals and the distribution of providers to areas where they are needed the most.”

Summit CEO Josh Martin often quotes statistics about how Grays Harbor County ranks among the last in the state for number of health care providers per capita.

“We’re one of the sickest counties of the state. Our residents will die three years sooner than any other resident of the state. …” he said. “We have nowhere to go but up.”

BLUE ZONES

To help heal the community and to achieve the goal of making Grays Harbor known for its health transformation, Grays Harbor County Hospital District No. 1 and Summit Pacific introduced the community to an organization called Blue Zones at a gathering Tuesday.

Blue Zones Vice President of Product Nick Buettner says his organization can help residents of the area. On Tuesday, he spoke to about 300 people at Summit Pacific Wellness Center about the successes Blue Zones has had helping communities make the “healthy choice, easy choice,” as he said.

Blue Zones’ first project was in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

“We worked with the community for a vision of what their downtown could look like,” Buettner said. “A vision that creates economic vitality. A vision that creates a place where people want to live, they want to come in. We looked at food policy around access and creating better access. We looked at food advertising. We worked with restaurants, not to say ‘you need to change your business,’ but to work with them to say, ‘how can we work together to support your customers and cut their calories?’ ”

Blue Zones convinced grocery stores to replace candy at checkout lines with fresh fruit. They advised cities to add walking paths.

Communities saw decreases in obesity, particularly in children, which was coupled with increases in test scores, he said of places like Albert Lea where Blue Zones has offered its services. He cited millions of dollars in health care savings over the decade since the first project.

Some people in the audience — which included multiple city, county state leaders as well as business leaders — asked questions. One person asked about places where Blue Zones hasn’t worked out.

Buettner said they continue to learn from the process.

“In order to be successful with this, you have to have the right leadership, from your political leaders, from your restaurants, from your schools from your grocery stores. And from the community,” he said. “You are the ones invested in this. You are the ones developing it. In all our communities we’ve had successes.”

After the presentation, several people said they were impressed with the concept.

“I’m really intrigued with the program. Some of the communities they’ve worked with are analogous in many ways with what we have here,” State Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) said after Tuesday’s presentation. “It’s no surprise that they’re here making this presentation now. A key part was the cultural piece. We need to recover a healthier culture here. And it’s not just medicine and doctors, like he said, it’s your whole life.

“I’ll support anything that encourages a healthy life.”

Tuesday’s introduction was the first stage

UnitedHealthcare has committed to paying for half of the second phase, which is a community assessment of its interest in the changes Blue Zones advises, said John Elsner, SPMC’s director of development and community relations.

Doug Bowes, chief executive officer of the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Washington, said there’s a lot of work yet to do.

“This is a community effort. Schools, county, the hospital system, food sources, everybody would have to come together to move toward that healthier lifestyle,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting. “If they could bring this off and Blue Zones has a pathway to do that, we’re very supportive of that. It’s an awesome project if they can make it happen. You can’t do it if you don’t have community partners.”

At least one member of the county Hospital District No. 1 Board of Commissioners seems to like what he’s heard from Blue Zones.

“I think they have a very logical way of doing things,” Commissioner Louie Figueroa said. “The way they’ve developed their program is very sound. I’m really impressed by it.”

County Commissioner Vickie Raines said she was glad about the size of the turnout and hopes to work in support of the program.

“I’ve seen people I go to church with here. Public leaders from Rotary to insurance salesmen,” she said. “There’s quite a broad spectrum of folks here tonight to see what this is all about.”

“This is the first step of many, and I’m looking forward to working with the team they have here to move forward,” she said.

The Vidette has asked for costs associated with Tuesday’s visit and presentation, which was paid by grant money previously received by SPMC, and coming stages of Blue Zones’ services. But it has yet to receive a response.

PLAYGROUND

Also Thursday, Summit Pacific held a ceremony to mark the opening of a playground and fitness track on its campus. The community is invited to try out the exercise equipment, slides and other fun activities installed behind the hospital.

It’s an unusual feature at a hospital and another step toward helping East County and the region improve its health.

“Grays Harbor is a fantastic community. It’s a wonderful community,” said Andrew Hooper, chairman of the Grays Harbor Hospital District No. 1 Board of Commissioners. “It can thrive economically. It can thrive in health care but not with a fixed mindset. We’ve got to be willing to change to more of a growth focus with the understanding that it’s not going to change by itself. It requires work. It requires commitment. It requires a willingness to learn.”

A temporary sign is placed Thursday, July 18, 2019, in Elma beside the new slide at Summit Pacific Medical Center’s playground area. (Michael Lang | Grays Harbor News Group)

Members from the Hospital District No. 1 Board of Commissioners and Summit Pacific Medical Center leadership pose with representatives from the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration Thursday, July 18, 2019, in Elma after the announcement that the hospital district would receive a nearly $750,000 grant to help start its family medicine residency program. (Michael Lang | Grays Harbor News Group)