Rain or shine, investigator Eyob Mazengia from Seattle-King County Public Health was scheduled to sample water off Alki for health testing at midday today, and that he did – three containers, three samples. Out on the beach with him, a team from the state Department of Ecology, getting out the word that this is the start of water-sampling season. The BEACH (Beach Environmental Assessment, Communication, & Health) program – which includes regular testing at Lincoln Park – isn’t new, but the idea of scheduling a multimedia photo op is, according to Sandy Howard, who was out at Alki wrangling camera crews with whom BEACH program manager Julie Lowe was doing interviews. We asked her about the value of testing at beaches where people don’t swim much (like Alki):

The state team says that if they find high levels of bacteria at a beach, they will not only post signs, but also:

*Send a note to an e-mail list you can sign up for (here)
*Tweet, via the Ecology Department account
*Post on Facebook, where the BEACH Program has its own page

… so you can check out any of those channels to make sure the water’s safe!

Thanks to Debra Salazar Herbst for the bird’s-eye view of this morning’s Walk With Us to Cure Lupus fundraising walk along Alki. The money raised supports the Alliance for Lupus Research, trying to cure lupus, an autoimmune disorder affecting up to 1.5 million people in the U.S.

SIDE NOTE: Next fundraising walk/run on Alki is a biggie – one week from tomorrow, it’s the West Seattle 5K (co-sponsored by WSB) on Sunday, May 20th, 9 am (preceding Seattle Summer Streets “car-free day” activities till 5). Registration and packet-pickup details are on the WS5K website; the event is a benefit for, and organized by, the West Seattle High School PTSA.

The Bikram Yoga Seattle studio in West Seattle is very excited to serve such a great neighborhood! The inviting studio has bright natural light, original timber ceilings and soft lighting. In the past year, the studio has had many updates including all new antifungal and antimicrobial flooring, bigger changing rooms and beautiful tiled showers! BYS also offers free filtered water. Owners and longtime practitioners/teachers Kevin Cooke and Kathy Allen, along with the rest of the staff invite you to visit the studio to see for yourself!

There are a lot of hot yoga studios. BYS stands out in that each of their 19 teachers have gone through a rigorous 9-week residential teacher training led by Bikram Choudhury himself. In addition to the training, they all have a dedicated personal practice and you’ll often find them taking class alongside you. They truly practice what they preach! The teachers have practiced for between 6 and 14 years, while owners Kevin and Kathy have been practicing for well over 25 years and teaching for more than 15 years! All of our teachers teach and empathize equally with beginning students as well as longtime practitioners. Each teacher has a personal style and brings something unique and valuable for their students. If you have never practiced Bikram yoga and we’ve piqued your interest, visit About Bikram Yoga, Preparing for Class and the FAQ’s and come try a class soon!

You can get started today with Bikram Yoga Seattle’s new student special: 10 classes for $20 in 14 days (get the coupon here), for students who have never been to their newly remodeled studio. Find them online at Bikram Yoga Seattle, check out the class schedule, find them on Facebook, visit them in person at 4747 California SW, or call them at 206-937-3900.

We thank Bikram Yoga Seattle for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.

(Photo courtesy Stroller Strides)
Good thing the forecast says the sunshine is sticking around – tomorrow morning, a crowd is expected for Stroller Strides‘ 3-year anniversary class on Alki. It’s been a bigger-than-ever year for franchisee Athena Frederick, who received the company’s Franchise of the Year award last December. The program is a workout for moms that allows them to bring their little ones along (dads are welcome too); if you want to participate tomorrow, Athena says the first class is always free and they’re offering free classes all week as part of the celebration. They’re also offering “numerous raffle prizes for moms; free running shoes, baby items, and many more from our numerous sponsors” – goodie bags for all, too. The celebratory class is planned for 9:30 am tomorrow (Monday) by the Alki Bathhouse.

(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
That’s Officer Mike Hope, who’s at the front desk in the Southwest Precinct, where you can drop off unneeded/expired medication (liquid too, for those who have asked) till 2 pm, as part of Drug Take-Back Day. The lobby entrance is off the parking lot, which you enter from SW Webster, just west of Delridge, south side of the building, and the front-desk window where you’ll find him is right inside.

Also about her work at Omsho Crysalis, Kate (pictured at right with co-owner Al Reust) adds, “Often when working with a client – either with bodywork, the Biometric Surveys, or through homeopathic and nutritional intervention – I find that we’re able to ‘connect the dots’ that were being treated as separate issues by their other health-care practitioners. We believe that our job is to educate. When our clients have knowledge, they are able to make the best informed decision on their care and life changes that they need. … With 20 years as a massage practitioner in Washington, I’ve developed deep therapy techniques that allow me to facilitate deep therapeutic work, without the pain often experienced with deep tissue work. I’m also endorsed and experienced in Cranial IntraOral – working to identify and resolve such issues as TMJ, Migraine, concussion, complex whiplash and other traumas of the face, head and neck.” Omsho Crysalis is a member of the new Admiral District Business Association, located in West Seattle at 4222 SW Walker, #5 (also with a location in the Municipal Tower downtown), and online at OmshoCrysalis.com.

We thank Omsho Crysalis for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.

Providence Mount St. Vincent administrators past and present were there this afternoon to celebrate the dedication of The Mount’s newly expanded Transitional Care Unit. At left is Sister Rita Ferschweiler, who gave the blessing at this afternoon’s ceremony, photographed with current administrator Tom Mitchell. Sister Rita has been a Sister of Providence since 1944, when she was in her mid-20s, and came to West Seattle in 1977 to become administrator of The Mount. This expansion means the facility now has 58 beds for “transitional care,” explained as what’s needed by some people who are out of the hospital after surgery or treatment but still need time to recover, rehabilitate, and go through therapy before they can transition back into their regular lives. The services are now headquartered on The Mount’s 5th floor, where today’s ceremony happened:

From left, Providence’s Laurie Corrington, Renee Fowler, and Ken Wolcott; Kees Cusveller from Graham Construction, and Steve Anderson from Providence. Previously, The Mount had 20 beds for this kind of care, so its capacity is tripled. A fact-sheet provided by Providence says it’s the only part of The Mount where they have “patients” rather than “residents.”

My two 8-year-old daughters and I went to Constellation Park this afternoon bringing our lunch and planned on staying for 2 or 3 hours.

Just shortly after we ate our lunch I turned around and saw my one daughter with a syringe in her hands. I told her to immediately put it down and she did. But I asked her if she had poked herself with it and she said yes – in her finger – and it did indeed appear that she had upon closer inspection.

So I grabbed the syringe (it still had its cap with it) and went back home and called the Swedish nurse hotline. They recommended that I take her to the emergency room immediately and bring the syringe with me.

They also told me to wash the puncture site a couple of times and try to get it to bleed in between washes.

After a long wait and consult with the doctor, they said that the syringe appeared to be unused due to it’s like-new condition and lack of any residue inside, but they could not be sure. It was a syringe typically used for insulin injection due to the shape and needle size. They indicated that the biggest risk was hepatitis since the virus can survive a long time in such a condition, unlike HIV and most other nasty things which degrade extremely quickly in a syringe laying on the beach in daylight. Hepatitis B my daughter has been immunized for since birth, but Hep C there would be nothing to be done. So, just to make sure her Hep. B immunizations were being effective (apparently 10-5% of those that get immunized don’t develop immunity as desired) we had her blood drawn for a test. If the test comes back showing her immunity for Hep B is good then there is nothing to be done other than watch and wait. If her immunity was not effective, then she needs to come back and get Hep B immune globulin injections. We’ll know tomorrow.

Anyways, we’ve warned our kids many times about picking such things up at the beach, but apparently it did not work in this case.

So, a word of caution to parents with this nice weather and impeding summer calling us to the local beaches. Talk to your kids about what to do if they find a syringe at the beach:

– Don’t touch it
– Tell an adult about it
– If you do get punctured by one, tell your parents right away

For the parents:

– Call one of the nurse hotlines immediately and they will tell you what to do
– If possible, safely take the syringe with you to the doctor, they will want to inspect it if possible
– Know your kids’ immunization history

Hopefully other parents will find this useful.

We found a resource list online that appears to have some of the nurse hotlines John mentioned; scroll down this page. (We did a Google crosscheck and the four hospital-affiliated numbers listed as public hotlines appear to be valid.)

As the Administrator of Highline Medical Group, I’d like to answer the questions raised by patients about billing for urgent care services. We do charge a $100 urgent care fee – which is a legal billing code and is covered by some insurance companies. This fee partially compensates us for the higher costs of operating an urgent care facility during weekends and evening hours, when there is irregular demand for services. Our staff and facility are here waiting for you, even when you might not need us.

Like many other healthcare services, the urgent care charge is covered by some insurance carriers and not by others. We have been working with insurance plans to get this fee covered for our patients. If you have the following insurance, you will not be billed personally for the fee:

• First Choice Network PPO
• Regence (effective 4-1-12)
• HMG Medicare Advantage Plans (United/Secure Horizons, Humana, Molina)
• HMG Managed Medicaid (CUP)
• Medicare
• Medicaid

We are still negotiating with other insurance carriers and will update the West Seattle Blog community as we add them.

We do our best to explain to patients that there is an extra fee accompanying treatment at an urgent care clinic. We emphasize that a patient’s insurance company will be billed and it may (or may not) cover the full cost. If the insurance company does not pay, that fee becomes the patient’s responsibility. We ask patients to sign a form acknowledging this because we don’t want them to be surprised by a bill they weren’t expecting. For those who object to the fee, we can offer regularly scheduled appointments during office hours at West Seattle Family Medicine, with no urgent care fee. We are always happy to work with any patient for whom the $100 charge represents financial hardship. Patients can contact us directly at 206.242.8300 if they have questions or would like assistance.

We are sorry there has been so much confusion about this. We take all community input very seriously. Based upon the feedback we have received from the community, we are developing new printed materials that explain the charges in detail and we are working with our staff to assure that they are explaining the charges more thoroughly to each patient.

We are committed to the West Seattle community. I want to assure you that we are doing our best to balance the needs of the community for extended hours with the cost of providing the care.

Susan Pursell
HMG Administrator

Highline opened its Urgent Care clinic in West Seattle last fall east of Jefferson Square, and plans to move later this year to a new location in The Triangle (currently home to Cycle U, which is in turn moving to Harbor Avenue next month).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

West Seattle’s fourth publicly advertised medical-marijuana outlet has just opened. It’s the first one located in a mixed-use building – in this case, a senior-housing complex.

Sure Can Access Point opened this morning in Arrowhead Gardens‘ retail area at 9240 2nd SW, Suite 200. (“Access point” is a type of medical-marijuana facility – the “point” where patients can procure what’s produced by “collective gardens.”) After we interviewed owner Damon Grady by phone on Tuesday, he invited us to stop by for photos after they opened the doors this morning.

Though the name of the business didn’t surface till their website went live, this has been in the works for months. Last December, WSB received anonymous e-mail from someone who claimed to be representing an unspecified number of “tenants” at Arrowhead Gardens who were upset about what they thought was an existing medical-marijuana operation moving to their building. (We were not able to verify the tenant at the time, despite research including a trip downtown to look at the space’s improvement plans, which carried only the name of the architect.) Sure Can Access Point is not a relocated enterprise, but instead is the first-ever endeavor for Grady, who says he worked previously in the food business, as a part-owner of several pizza restaurants.

In our conversation, Grady sought to assuage concerns. In another e-mail exchange after we found Sure Can’s website last week, the residents said they were worried there would be a “smoking lounge” next door. Grady says there will be no consumption of their products – either smokable marijuana or “medibles,” food/beverage items with its active ingredient – on premises. By agreement, clients are prohibited from using the products any closer than 500 feet, though he says of course they hope clients will be taking the products home. He thought the residents might have gotten confused by an “employee lounge” area that he says was mentioned on the plans for his business.

While Grady says they have not decided yet about exterior signage, there is none at this point (the photo atop this story shows the entirety of the unmarked facade). Inside the unlocked-during-business-hours door to Suite 200, which is next to a small market on the north side of Arrowhead Gardens, there is a simple waiting room, which also includes access to the reception area, behind security door and glass.

Grady says that if a client’s paperwork all clears, they are allowed past the security door, and then past another door beyond that opens to the area where the marijuana is kept (along with a whiteboard “menu” showing types and prices):

The second waiting area also holds a case with glass smoking accessories.

We asked Grady why he has gone into this business. “I just want to be able to help patients get affordable medicine … that’s the biggest thing. I’ve had a (medical marijuana) card for a while, and saw the prices at other places … I wanted to have a place that would be affordable for everybody.” The Sure Can Access Point lists prices and types of marijuana.

And why this location? Grady mentions an “exhaustive” search that took months and included “a lot of rejection,” but ultimately, he says, “This place felt right for us.”

As for residents’ concerns? He says one woman confronted him directly but he feels the concerns are “fairly unfounded. We’re not going to have people just hanging out in front. … It’s a free country, and patients have the right to access their medicine wherever there is a legal access point. I want to be the best neighbor that we can be.”

Though marijuana officially remains illegal under federal law in any and all uses, it remains legal under state law – albeit “hazy,” as our partners at the Seattle Times wrote in January. (The bill mentioned in that article, an attempt to make the law less hazy, stalled in the Legislature last month.)

The Fauntleroy Church Green Committee – known far beyond Fauntleroy for popular events such as the twice-yearly Recycle Roundups (another one’s coming up in late April, by the way) – is inviting you to come learn tomorrow about how to live a more non-toxic life. Judy Pickens shares the photo and this preview:

Finding out what toxins may be in the care products used by children or in the toys they are given will be easy at Sunday’s Toxic-Free Kids Fair for the community hosted by Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW; map). Members of the church’s green committee, as well as staff from the Washington Toxics Coalition, Lullaby Organics, and Earth Ministry will be on hand 11 AM – 1 PM in Fellowship Hall to help you determine toxicity (even by smartphone while you’re in the store!) and provide practical advice about the harm that certain toxins can do to growing bodies.

It’s free and all are welcome. (That’s Green Committee chair Liann Sundquist in the photo, getting ready for tomorrow’s event.)

You can’t just call them “lunch ladies” (or gentlemen), since a big part of the job for workers like these two at West Seattle Elementary and other schools is to provide a nutritious breakfast, too. And breakfast was in the spotlight in a big way at WSES this morning, as Seattle Public Schools launched a monthlong campaign to convince students (and their families) of its importance. Helping get the message out: A district worker in a bumblebee suit:

Her name is Katie Busby (perfect!), and she told media crews that she’s been appearing as “Buzz, the Bee Healthy bee” for a few years now. She works with the district’s Nutrition Services Department, which says, “Children who eat breakfast daily do better on standardized tests, get better grades, are able to concentrate in school, can more easily complete complex tasks and are more able to maintain a healthy weight.” The monthlong “Go for Gold” campaign will offer prize drawings and other celebrity appearances to participating schools.

Natural and alternative health-care options abound in West Seattle.

But if a family expecting a child wanted to explore the option of home birth with a certified midwife – there was no dedicated, midwifery-only West Seattle practice to turn to. Till now.

Taylor Hamil, LM, CPM (right), and Christine Tindal, LM, CPM, half the first graduating class from the new Department of Midwifery at Bastyr University, have opened In Tandem Midwifery in a warmly furnished Junction office, with a grand-opening event this Saturday.

Their first client is due in August. And they’re ready to welcome others.

Christine and Taylor are licensed, certified professional midwives, not nurse-midwives, though their training has included nursing care that may be needed to attend to mothers (prenatal and postpartum as well as during the birth process) and babies, to recognize complications if they arise, to stabilize until care can be transferred, and they carry medical supplies.

Taylor is a West Seattle resident; Christine says she will be, soon. They both graduated last year with master’s degrees in midwifery. They enthuse about their profession as one that “feeds the soul,” with memorable moments such as the instant when parent/s “see their baby and they forget you are in the room.”

Though their practice is new, together, as students, apprentices, and midwives, they have assisted in more than 300 births already. They say the Seattle midwifery community is excited about there being a dedicated practice in West Seattle, so they have many mentors to consult if and when necessary.

Why do moms choose midwifery care and home delivery? we ask. Taylor says the benefits include: “It’s the empowerment of knowing you can do this on your own, with a provider who trusts you have everything you need to do this thing you are meant to do.” Christine echoes, “Midwifery is inherently empowering to women and families,” as participants in decision-making, which isn’t always the case in relationships with health-care providers. She also observes, “Some women just don’t want to be in the hospital.” (Studies show that non-hospital low-risk births have a lower rate of medical intervention than hospital deliveries, and a comparable mortality rate.)

In addition to home births, they also can attend clients’ births at either of two birth centers in the city, the Center for Birth in Eastlake, or Seattle Home Maternity Service in Columbia City. Comfortable as their Junction office space looks, it’s not set up as a birth center, and West Seattle doesn’t have one of its own (though they point out, they attend home births with all the same supplies that are on hand at birth centers). The office is for pre- and postnatal care visits. They can also make home visits to bring that care to wherever you are, even before the 36-week mark in a client’s pregnancy, when they visit her home to make sure not only that it’s ready for labor/delivery but also that they know how to get there when the big day arrives.

After the baby is born – after that magic moment when the midwife leaves, with the new arrival and her/his parent/s all tucked in and resting – they have a schedule of postpartum visits, for both mother and baby, till six weeks. That includes not only health care for mother and baby, but also breastfeeding support.

Information and support are at the heart of the philosophy and practice of this kind of midwifery. There’s even a lending library at In Tandem:

How do you know that you would be a candidate for a home birth? Taylor and Christine say it’s not so much a list of prerequisites, as a list of exclusions, that covers their practice, by state law – “a low-risk ‘blanket’ falls over our scope of practice,” they explain. That might include uncontrolled high blood pressure or blood sugar, for example. But you can talk about that with them at a free initial consultation.

And yes, many insurance plans cover out-of-hospital births with certified-midwife care. Not all, though; the In Tandem billing assistant can help you figure out if yours does.

If you are not certain you want the full home-birth experience, they also offer other services – such as serving as a monitrice, a provider who will help you stay home as long as possible before going elsewhere to have your baby. “We’re trying hard to offer as many choices as possible,” said Taylor, “to (result in) a healthy mom and healthy baby.”

You can meet Christine and Taylor this Saturday as they open the doors to In Tandem Midwifery for a “grand opening” open house, noon-4 pm. (Everyone’s welcome, they assured us, not just the expectant or potentially expectant!) You can get to their offices from the breezeway at 4517 California SW in The Junction – take the stairs near the California entrance.