Bourbon & Bowties

Samaritan raises money to bring doctors to the Basin

MOSES LAKE — The fourth annual Bourbon & Bowties fundraiser raised more than $350,000 April 24 to bring more doctors to Samaritan Healthcare. “The population in our hospital district is large enough that we’re about 22 primary care physicians short,” said Roberta Bigalk, executive director of the Samaritan Foundation. The solution Samaritan is working on, Bigalk said, is a partnership with the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University to bring physicians to the Columbia Basin to do their residency. Starting in 2029, Samaritan hopes to bring four or five new resident doctors a year. “The hope is that they come here with their families,” Bigalk said. “They spend three to four years, and they want to stay here because they love the rural community.”