Please consider sending your own letter. Addresses of the state legislators follow the letter. Thank you for taking time to do this.

 

The photo is of WW I veterans, all patients with Buergers disease that were treated at McKay Hospital in 1939.

 

On November 11, 1938 Washington Governor Clarence Martin dedicated McKay Memorial Hospital in Soap Lake, declaring to the crowd, “There is only one Soap Lake in America.” The Governor was at Soap Lake that day because the state of Washington had authorized and funded the building of McKay Memorial Hospital for the treatment of WW I veterans with Buergers Disease using the waters of the lake.

 

Fast-forward seventy-three years: McKay Memorial Hospital, now known as McKay Healthcare and Rehab Center is a nursing home serving Hospital District No. 4 of Grant County. It has consistently rated as one of the top ten skilled nursing homes in the state of Washington for the last four years. 

 

Several years ago Soap Lake was awarded a $1M CERB grant to help build a Wellness and Research Institute. The city was not able to acquire matching funds and in April 2010 the authority for the grant was transferred by CERB to Public Hospital District No. 4 . Over the last year we have worked diligently to obtain matching funds. A fund-raising event was held and several private donors helped with the cost of hiring a grant-writer and we just started building momentum for our project when we learned that the Governors office withdrew the matching funds earmarked for our project.

 

The proposed McKay Wellness and Research Institute is vitally necessary for the economic prosperity of our community, whose economic vitality would in term improve the well-being of nearby Ephrata, Quincy and Moses Lake. The results of studies used in the grant application indicate that the proposed project will create 134 permanent jobs, add $522,00 in local tax revenues and $229,000 in state tax revenue. We have also obtained a commitment of support from the University of Washington and Bastyr in partnering with the facility to further understanding about why hundreds of people continue to report finding relief from using the waters of the lake for the treatment of skin disorders and other health issues.

 

The importance of rural health care and the need for cost-effective treatment that embraces a growing demand among the populace for the integration of natural and allopathic medical practices makes the proposed McKay Wellness and Research Institute a model project. It is also a project that the citizens of Soap Lake and the surrounding communities will mobilize to support. We need you to help restore the $1M CERB grant to our project. We also need you to learn more about our project and the history of Soap Lake and it’s historic relationship with the state. We need you to care about our economic prosperity and to join us in celebrating the efforts of many people who have volunteered countless hours to this project. We need you to stand behind them and what they are trying to accomplish. We need you to be part of a great project that all the people of the state of Washington will benefit from, just as they did for decades beginning in the early 1900’s when the first sanitarium was built in Soap Lake and it was recognized as the state’s health resort. We remain true to developing the natural gifts of our lake, and in turn, the natural gifts of our state.

 

 

Your kind response is anticipated,

 

Sincerely,

 

Senator Linda Evans Parlette

P.O. Box 40412

Olympia, WA 98504-0412

 

Rep Cary Condotta

P.O. Box 40600

Olympia, WA 98504-0600

 

Rep Mike Armstrong

P.O. Box 40600

Olympia, WA 98504-0600

 

Senatort Janea Holmquist Newbry

P.O. Box 40413

Olympia, WA 98504-0413

 

Rep. Judy Warnick

P.O. Box 40600

Olympia, WA 98504-0600

 

Rep. Bill Hinkle

P.O. Box 40600

Olympia, WA 98504-0600