Issaquah chaplain walks from Spokane to Seattle
July 18, 2012
NEW — 10:30 a.m. July 18, 2012
The chaplain at the Providence Marianwood assisted-care facility, Klahanie resident Johann Neethling, embarked Wednesday on a 300-mile trek from Spokane to Seattle — on foot.
Motivated by a desire to maintain and improve fitness after surviving a heart attack, Neethling is also using the walk as a fundraiser to benefit the residents and staff at Providence Marianwood.
Neethling, 65, started the journey at Providence St. Joseph Care Center in Spokane early Wednesday and plans to arrive at Providence Marianwood in Issaquah on the afternoon of July 25.
The route across the Evergreen State traverses verdant farmland and rugged scablands, fruit orchards and the Cascades.
Providence Marianwood celebrates Snoqualmie heritage
May 1, 2012
John Mullen shares tribal customs during Mother Joseph Pariseau Day
Wayne Greaka, who learned the art of carving from John Mullen, spoke briefly about the year or so he spent creating the beaver mask seen here. Greaka’s hands are resting one of Mullen’s handmade canoes. By Tom Corrigan
John Mullen, a member of the Snoqualmie Tribe, has been a carver and sort of spokesman and educator for the tribe for about 11 years.
In addition to spreading and teaching the Snoqualmie tradition of carving, Mullen also carries on the tribe’s tradition of singing and drumming.
On April 16, he was at Issaquah’s nonprofit Providence Marianwood skilled nursing facility, with his handmade tools, one of his handmade dugout canoes and plenty of stories to share.
Mullen’s visit was part of Marianwood’s marking of April 16, formally Mother Joseph Pariseau Day in Washington.
A member of the Catholic order of the Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph is credited with building 29 hospitals, schools, orphanages and shelters for the aged or mentally ill in the late 1800s in Washington and surrounding states.
Few changes for patients in Providence-Swedish affiliation agreement
March 27, 2012
The partnership between Providence Health & Services and Swedish Health Services should not affect services at Issaquah health care facilities, officials said as the organizations completed a groundbreaking affiliation agreement.
Through the affiliation, Providence and Swedish plan to operate as the Western Washington Region of Providence Health & Services. The organization encompasses all Swedish operations in King and Snohomish counties, plus Providence operations in King, Snohomish, Thurston and Lewis counties.
The entities operate Providence Marianwood, a 25-year-old nursing home, and 8-month-old Swedish/Issaquah in the city.
“Swedish/Issaquah is a community hospital focused on the community needs here,” Chuck Salmon, chief executive for Swedish/Issaquah and ambulatory care, said after the Feb. 1 announcement. “At this point, my direction is, ‘Don’t change a thing. You guys are doing fine.’ There should be really no change at all as perceived by the public.”
Marianwood and artEAST exhibit showcases groups’ talents
February 21, 2012
Providence Marianwood and artEAST are teaming up for another art show.
By Catherine Kail-Tucker
The shows are a good way for both local institutions to promote themselves, said Liz Ashley, an artist and member of artEAST, Issaquah’s community arts center, as well as a board member at Issaquah’s Providence Marianwood skilled nursing home.
Joint ventures of Marianwood and artEAST, art showings were launched at the nonprofit nursing facility about two years ago, Ashley said. The latest runs through the end of March and features three disparate area artists.
“They are all different, but I think they compliment each other very well,” said Ashley, who curates the shows for Marianwood.
The featured artists are Michelle Sidnie Ryan, Margaret “Joyce” Van Duine and Catherine Kail-Tucker. The trio hosted an artists’ reception at Marianwood on Feb. 18.
Ryan is a self-taught Northwest artist inspired by nearly everything she sees in everyday life, according to information provided by Marianwood. Kail-Tucker works with old-style etching techniques, according to Ashley, while Van Duine paints on glass.
No changes for local patients as Providence, Swedish complete affiliation agreement
February 10, 2012
NEW — 8 a.m. Feb. 10, 2012
The partnership between Providence Health & Services and Swedish Health Services should not affect services at Issaquah health care facilities, officials said as the organizations completed a groundbreaking affiliation agreement.
Through the affiliation, Providence and Swedish plan to operate as the Western Washington Region of Providence Health & Services. The organization encompasses all Swedish operations in King and Snohomish counties, plus Providence operations in King, Snohomish, Thurston and Lewis counties.
The entities operate Providence Marianwood, a 25-year-old nursing home, and Swedish/Issaquah, a 7-month-old hospital, in the city.
“Swedish/Issaquah is a community hospital focused on the community needs here,” Chuck Salmon, chief executive for Swedish/Issaquah and ambulatory care, said days after the Feb. 1 announcement. “At this point, my direction is, ‘Don’t change a thing. You guys are doing fine.’ There should be really no change at all as perceived by the public.”
Longtime city public works director retires
November 8, 2011
Bob Brock is not a household name in Issaquah, but projects the former Public Works Engineering director oversaw reshaped the landscape — bridges across Issaquah Creek designed to ease flooding and road projects meant to alleviate traffic congestion.
Brock, 64, retired as the top engineering official in the city Nov. 4 after a lifetime spent in public works roles in California, Wyoming and, for the past dozen years, in Issaquah.
“I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. It’s never been my forte to be up there in a suit and tie and everything and being in the foreground,” he said in pre-retirement interview. “I personally like to let my very capable staff get the exposure, No. 1, and the experience to share. It’s them that makes me successful.”
Since joining the city staff in May 1999, Brock supervised road and other infrastructure projects as the city added 19,000 residents through annexations and a home-building boom. Controversy also defined the area, as activists, leaders and residents debated the Southeast Bypass, a proposed road along Tiger Mountain designed to reduce downtown traffic headaches.
Brock led 30 or so Public Works Engineering Department employees from a corner office in City Hall Northwest. The space overlooks a recent city project, a pedestrian connector across Interstate 90 at state Route 900.
Providence, Swedish announce health care alliance
October 25, 2011
The partnership between Providence Health & Services and Swedish Health Services links important organizations involved in Issaquah health care.
Kevin Brown
Executives at Renton-based Providence and Seattle-based Swedish said the economic slump prompted the decision, as health care centers treat more uninsured patients and government reimbursements shrink.
The organizations plan to combine resources to offer services, such as a common electronic health record for patients, at Providence and Swedish facilities throughout Western Washington.
Despite the organizations’ large footprints in the city — Providence Marianwood, a nursing home, and Swedish/Issaquah, a state-of-the-art hospital — executives said the impact to patients is minimal.
“The closer people are to receiving services, they’re really not going to see any impact,” said Kevin Brown, Swedish senior vice president and chief administrative officer. “Where we will see the benefit is by being part of a larger, regional network where we can coordinate care now in all of Western Washington.”
Local nursing home receives help on Day of Caring
September 20, 2011
Providence Marianwood, a nonprofit nursing home in Issaquah, received a helping hand from volunteer gardeners and painters Sept. 16 as the United Way of King County celebrated the Day of Caring in a series of service projects.
Employees from Aerojet, Mutual of Enumclaw and PeaceHealth set aside normal workplace duties to participate in the Day of Caring at Providence Marianwood. Elsewhere in King County, United Way-affiliated volunteers assisted in projects at nonprofit organizations, parks and schools.
Issaquah nursing home receives help on Day of Caring
September 16, 2011
Day of Caring volunteers, employees from Aerojet, plant in a rejuvenated courtyard at Providence Marianwood during a countywide service project Friday. By Arlene Carter
NEW — 10 p.m. Sept. 16, 2011
Providence Marianwood, a nonprofit nursing home in Issaquah, received a helping hand from volunteer gardeners and painters Friday as the United Way of King County celebrated the Day of Caring in a series of service projects.
In Fabulous 5, six — yes, six — ladies form lasting friendships
September 13, 2011
Mary Ann Knowles, Colleen Buck, Jo Ann Gazdik and Marilyn Boone (from left), four of the six members of the Fabulous Five, meet for lunch and an afternoon of conversation. Contributed
In 1994, Marilyn Davis invited to her home four fellow Providence Marianwood nurses who, like herself, were approaching retirement. It was the first meeting of the Fabulous Five.
Since then, the group (now comprised of six women) have met regularly to laugh about old times and support each other as they confront the trials of growing older.
With only a couple days’ notice, four of the six met at Marilyn Boone’s house in Issaquah for an interview. The only two missing were Davis, who now lives in Australia, and Diana Millikan, who lives on Guemes Island.
To clarify, the Fabulous Five met in the apartment behind the 97-year-old house Boone bought in 1977. “The worst house in town” is what she called it. Boone became a self-taught carpenter and electrician. She fixed up her new home on her own — all the while raising three children and working as a nurse — until she met her husband.
“He was a retired engineer and he just loved the fact that I had two very old houses that needed redoing,” she said.
