To our community:

My heart is filled with despair as I watch division and distrust spread through our community in the wake of the negative publicity that has centered around our . As a MD and Chief of Staff at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, I am seeing firsthand the extraordinary amount of work my colleagues are doing to prepare our hospital and for COVID-19. And it’s heart-wrenching to watch our collective achievements become overshadowed by the opinions of a single .

I want to share with you some vital information that has not been reported by the media.

I want you to know about:

■ Our exceptional team of infectious disease specialists who are ■ The team in our Center who has implemented working around-the-clock to ensure that we are staying on the measures to keep pregnant women, newborns and cutting-edge of COVID-19 testing and treatment; families safe;

■ The doctors at Northwest , with the assistance of ■ Our Medical Staff Office professionals who have provided scientists from WWU, who have literally worked 20 out of emergency credentialing to hundreds of ; 24 hours a day for days on end to increase our community’s ■ The engineers and facilities team who have transformed testing capacity; the hospital’s physical plant to accommodate the worst- ■ Our expert team of Emergency Department physicians who case scenario; have developed strategies for streamlining care and preventing ■ Our outpatient staff who literally implemented exposure of and healthcare workers to COVID-19; telehealth capabilities overnight so that people can continue ■ Our critical care specialists who are closely collaborating with to receive care through our outpatient clinics without risking our hospital administrators to make sure we have all necessary exposure by coming into a medical office; equipment and space to care for those who become critically ill; ■ Our surgeons who willingly agreed to delay procedures ■ All of the physicians – hospitalists, anesthesiologists, internists, that are clinically safe to delay; pediatricians, family – along with our fantastic ■ Our incredible Food & Nutrition and Environmental and ancillary staff, who have come forth and agreed to work in our Services caregivers who keep us fed and keep the and intensive care units when the need arises; buildings clean and disinfected.

For many healthcare providers, the work we have done to prepare for COVID-19 will go down as one of the proudest moments of our careers.

There’s no doubt that as a society we are in uncharted territory. The apprehension of uncertainty hangs heavy in the air, and we all sense it. But I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that PeaceHealth and our greater medical community are prepared. We have risen to the occasion and formed a cohesive team ready as always to care for you and your loved ones.

Anna Dowling, MD, FACOG Anna Dowling, MD, FACOG Chief of Staff, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Obstetric Hospitalist, Section Lead, Childbirth Center

This letter is endorsed by the following local physicians and providers:

Allison Robinson, MD Deborah Hall, MD Kevin Lee, MD Richard Binder, MD Colorectal Hospitalist Family Medicine Amir Gharaei, MD Dina Levin, MD Kevin Steel, DO Richard Krebs, MD Chair, Medicine Department OB/GYN Family Medicine Andrew Verneuil, MD Doug Madsen, MD Lars Crabo, MD Robert Mongue, MD Otolaryngology OB/GYN & Community Board Member Barbara Bachman, MD Greg Wolgamot, MD Sally Newbrough, MD ; Pathology Lindsay Emerick, MD & Past Chief of Staff OB/GYN Ione Adams, MD Scott VanderLeest, MD Barry Landau, MD Pediatrician; Mara Kelley, MD President, Bellingham Chair, Credentials Committee Chair, Department; Anesthesia Associates & Community Board Member Service Line Director Pediatrics Beth Earthman, PNP Shannon Boustead, MD Pediatric Nurse Practitioner James Blackburn, MD Marcus Dubrow, MD Family Medicine Department Emergency Medicine Bradley D. Harris, MD Shelby Hein, MD James Holstine, DO Mark Hoffman, MD Family Medicine Medical Director Center for Family Medicine Brittany LeGarde, CPNP, ARNP Stephen Herdman, MD Joint Replacement and Pediatrics Mary Lotfi, MD Family Practice Fragility Fracture Program C. Shayne Mora, MD Susan Holstine, DO Jay Lonner, MD Executive Manager Matthew Oswin, MD Anesthesiology Pacific Rim Surgery Center Tammy Starr, DO Jeff Krusniak, DO Carla Russo, MD Megan Ellingsen, MD OB/GYN; Past Chief of Staff Orthopedic Surgery OB/GYN Hospice Thomas Stackhouse, MD Jen Rosquist, MD Chad Thomas, MD, PhD Meghan Lelonek, MD Otolaryngology & Pediatrician OB/GYN Family Medicine Community Board Member Jeremy Getz, MD Charles Ariz, MD Michelle Sohn, MD Todd Hafner, MD Chair, Anesthesia Department Chair Radiology Department Anesthesiology Jim Hopper, MD Chee Tan, MD Monika Mahal MD Tung Ha, MD CMO of Family Care Network OB/GYN Pediatrics Neurosurgery Jimmy Yee, MD Christine Hancock, MD Oleg Ravitsky, MD Tyson Hawkins, MD Cardiology Family Medicine Emergency Medicine Internal Medicine John Hoyt, MD Cindy Peers ARNP Peter Billing, MD Vincent Matteucci, MD Pathology Senior Health General Surgery John Morrison, MD Conor Sheehy MD Peter Telfer, MD Ward Naviaux, MD Bellingham Anesthesia Associates Anesthesiology Emergency Medicine Jordana Hawkins, MD Daniel Reznicek, MD Raj Deol, MD Warren Taranow, DO Pediatrics ; Internal Medicine; Orthopedic Surgery Chair, Department of Surgery Kathleen Weisenburger, MD ICU Medical Director Worth Everett, MD Internal Medicine David Baker, MD Rajesh Bhola, MD Emergency Medicine; Neurosurgery Kenneth Bachenberg, MD Cardiology Chair ED Department Interim VPMA