💉Checking the Pulse 03/04/26

At the beginning of the year, I got word from PeaceHealth employees — who were already anxious following multiple rounds of layoffs in 2025 — that external consultants from a global company known for recommending layoffs were inside St. Joseph. It would be weeks before I could confirm and publish a story on the presence of Huron Consulting Group employees inside PeaceHealth, but given that health systems often tap consultants for advice, I was curious about the extent to which other regional providers work with the group.

Given that the global management company and PeaceHealth are both private businesses, submitting public records requests for the contract, let alone any information on their relationship, was a no-go. But public hospital districts are subject to public records laws, so I requested any contracts in the last five years between Public Hospital District No. 1, which includes Skagit Regional Health’s Mount Vernon hospital, and Huron.

According to a contract obtained through this request, Skagit Regional Health paid Huron $93,765 for a three-year contract beginning in May 2021 for access to software. The contract granted the hospital licensure to use Huron Rounding, software that, according to the group’s former managing director, allows health systems to collect data and simplify analytics.

You may be thinking, “Hey, what about the hospital in Sedro-Woolley that PeaceHealth began managing in 2014, and that is in a public hospital district?”

My public records request with United General District 304 came back empty with the following message:

“United General District 304 contracts with PeaceHealth United General Medical Center for the management of clinical healthcare operations. As such, we are not party to their agreements with Huron Consulting Group.”

PeaceHealth, responding to questions via email, declined to share any specifics about its contract, or possible contracts, with Huron, beyond saying that the group is conducting a “comprehensive review.”

While Skagit Regional’s contract with Huron isn’t revelatory, the varying levels of transparency as far as public records concerning public hospital districts go are important, especially as efforts are underway to bring a third public hospital district to Whatcom County. (Yes, we already have two, but they’re small. More on this very soon.)

Employees of PeaceHealth are still feeling the impact of the Catholic nonprofit’s decision to switch its staff’s insurer from a subsidiary of United Healthcare to Moda Health. Hospital employees quickly found out last year that the Portland-based insurer Moda isn’t widely accepted in Bellingham, leaving some to wonder if this decision — similar to internal speculation surrounding many rounds of cuts — was to the advantage of PeaceHealth headquarters in Vancouver, Clark County, where the insurer is more accepted.

One of the sticking points over negotiations was the fact that the lone provider of anesthesia at St. Joseph, Bellingham Anesthesia Associates, wasn’t covered. St. Joseph employees, who are also patients of the county’s lone hospital, were finding themselves in emergency procedures last year, faced with the decision of declining anesthesia or facing substantial out-of-pocket expenses.

After debate and protest, the hospital eventually got anesthesia covered for employees, but not before many employees had procedures in 2025 that generated pricey bills they’re still staring down in 2026.

Whatcom County Council unanimously recommended on Feb. 24 a resolution calling on Olympia to “recognize public health as essential and to maintain Foundational Public Health Services funding.” The resolution was approved two days later.

The budget-related item concerns the potential loss of state funding, which could impact staffing and services offered by the health department, which is why director Champ Thomaskutty supports the resolution. Other counties have passed similar resolutions, too.

Lookout Eugene-Springfield: What on earth is happening at PeaceHealth’s Oregon hospital? In Oregon, PeaceHealth’s decision to end its contract with a local emergency physician group and bring in an outside company gained widespread pushback in recent weeks, including from the ER employees and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. The ongoing public dispute caused a PeaceHealth executive and the leader of the new Atlanta-based company to pen their own stories in Lookout. Days later, lawmakers called on the hospital for transparency and much of the hospital’s staff voted no confidence in their hospital’s leadership. Tripling down on the decision, a PeaceHealth official then went on the record with a local NPR station defending the decision.

The Atlantic: Reporter Elaine Godfrey’s story about why a Congresswoman kicked her out of a campaign event and called her a “top-notch hater” is a particularly interesting read after PeaceHealth officials recently kicked me out of an event and called security. (You can read what was said during the event here.)