A community open house is scheduled for June 8, 5-7 p.m., for San Juan County residents to meet with the architects and project leaders designing the new Peace Island Medical Center.

The open house will be held in the 4-H Building at the San Juan County Fairgrounds, just five blocks from downtown Friday Harbor.

An update on the design process for the new integrated medical center and Critical Access Hospital will be provided at the start of the event, followed by the opportunity for community members to have informal discussions with the architects and PIMC project leaders.

“Together, we are building something very special for the San Juan County community, and we want to ensure that our friends and neighbors have ample opportunity to see the initial design process that’s now under way and to offer their insights,” said Barbara Cable, chairwoman of Peace Island’s Design Committee.

In March, Peace Island’s Steering Committee selected Mahlum, a Seattle-based firm with connections to the San Juan Islands, as the lead architectural and design firm for the project.

“Community involvement is critical to the success of building Peace Island Medical Center,” said PeaceHealth’s Jim Barnhart, who is leading the planning and implementation process for the project. “We’re excited to share the progress we’re making and have the community help us continue to shape this work.”

The open house will be led by the lead architects from Mahlum. For more information on Peace Island Medical Center, visit www.sjcommunityhospital.org.

PeaceHealth is a Washington-based non-profit health care system serving multiple rural and urban communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, PeaceHealth has provided compassionate care to Northwest communities for more than a century, including serving the needs of small and remote communities through the operation of three successful critical access hospitals.

PeaceHealth annually receives national recognition for innovations in patient-centered care, patient safety and healthcare technology. Research published in the June 2008 edition of the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety ranked PeaceHealth as one of the top five quality of care health care systems in the country, and the leading system in the West. PeaceHealth is frequently named as one of the region’s best employers.

For more information, visit www.peacehealth.org