💉 Checking the Pulse 04/01/26

Full circle: When journalists attend an event or interview a source and then don’t immediately write a story including information from said occasion, we sometimes get asked why we didn’t do so. Fair question.

Personally, I try to be as non-transactional with sources as possible, meaning it is nice to be human and connect regardless of whether we need something from each other.

In October last year, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen was touring health care facilities to discuss the impacts of federal cuts and changes to health care. He scheduled a visit to PeaceHealth’s hospital in Sedro-Woolley and invited members of the press. When I showed up — which, of course, was before the congressman did, because why break the stereotype of journalists waiting on late politicians — PeaceHealth’s communications director told me I wasn’t allowed to be there. (Journalists are used to this.)

If you haven’t found yourself told you’re not allowed to be at something you were specifically invited to, well, it’s a bit jarring. When Larsen’s team arrived at PeaceHealth United General, he told the hospital folks the tour and conversation were open to the press, and we continued on. I sat in on the two parties' meetings and carried on with my week, and didn’t immediately write about it. Of course, I saved my notes.

Shortly after Larsen’s meeting with the hospital’s administrator, Chris Johnston, a nearly decade-long veteran of the hospital, was laid off by PeaceHealth. Fast forward to March this year, and the state approves the hospital’s request to implement a technical redesignation of some of its beds. As I reported out the story, I returned to my October 2025 notes and found Johnston’s remarks on how the hospital was doing financially to be helpful context. This is why journalists attend events and interview folks — and why discussions concerning things like public hospital districts and elected representatives should be open to the press.

If you’re receiving this newsletter, that means you’ve chosen to pay for journalism, which also means, I assume, you know — and maybe appreciate — the difference and separation of news and opinion sections of newspapers.

Last month, one of the weekly opinion columns authored by CDN’s Executive Editor, Ron Judd, discussed PeaceHealth. The opinion column received a lot of attention, and based on some messages I received, it seems some engaged readers thought I authored the column, which I did not. While I do regularly report news stories on PeaceHealth, news reporters do not write opinion stories; conversely, our editor does not write news stories. News institutions take deliberate measures to ensure opinion and news operations are separate from one another.

I should be clear: I greatly value hearing feedback from readers, and at CDN, we’re lucky to have an engaged readership. (A healthy opinion page and robust feedback are encouraged — especially via letters to the editor.)The distinction between news and opinion is an industry-wide topic; The New York Times frequently receives criticism for how its news and opinion stories often look the same, especially its mobile push notifications and visual displays. On CDN's website, you'll know if a story you're reading is opinion if, at the top of the story, it is labeled "Opinion."

As more community members write letters to the editor and guest commentaries regarding Whatcom County’s lone hospital, this important distinction is worth keeping in mind. In the first episode of CDN’s podcast, which launched yesterday, Judd discusses the difference between news and opinion content.

No, not me. Last year, Whatcom County terminated a health department staffer accused of domestic violence weeks after a CDN investigation into his 17 months of paid leave was published.

The staffer’s ex-wife’s lawsuit continues to drag through the courts, compiling a now-predictable, near-monthly proverbial stack of continuance orders — delaying the case. I’m tracking the case, so you’ll hear any notable updates, but for now, the former Whatcom County employee is interviewing for a job in Oregon, according to court documents.

The two former PeaceHealth dermatologists in Bellingham who were let go last year under unexplained and widely questioned and rumored circumstances, now both have new jobs.

Dr. Christina Lyons recently joined Frontier Dermatology in Bellingham and Dr. Amy Hopkins now works at Skagit Regional Health. PeaceHealth still has not filled its vacant roles in Bellingham, according to the hospital’s website.

KUOW: In a remarkable investigation with ProPublica, the Seattle-based public radio station examines why the state medical board let a Washington OB-GYN keep practicing after repeatedly being accused of sexual misconduct

Oregon Public Broadcasting: Oregon physicians are suing PeaceHealth. This story continues to be a fascinating case study of corporate health care

Lookout Eugene-Springfield: A registered nurse in Oregon authored her own story about her experience in a PeaceHealth emergency department

Serial: Because not everything I consume is about health care, I’d be remiss to not alert you to the latest gripping tale from the podcast company that made narrative podcasting a thing. The recently released podcast series from Serial and The New York Times has everything; murder for hire, kidnapping, family quirks and much more. (The series’ host, M. Gessen, formerly of The New Yorker and currently a columnist at The Times, was a journalism professor of mine in New York City.)