By RUSS SONDKER for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 7/10/2026
Community Health Care’s Family Medicine Residency was forced to close as of June 30, after Virginia Mason Franciscan Health abruptly terminated its affiliation agreement with the program in December 2025.
CHC is a federally qualified health center that serves low-income and predominantly underserved communities. CHC’s family medicine residency is designed to train future primary care doctors to deliver compassionate care to this population.
CHC is an independent organization, and its residency requires a connection to a hospital to fulfill training requirements. Since its inception in 2014, CHC has had an agreement with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health to provide hospital-based training. In December 2025, VMFH gave notice that it was ending this relationship without any reason beyond its own internal priorities. This left the residency without a viable way to continue. Although MultiCare attempted to incorporate CHC’s residents, the organization recently also declined to train CHC’s residents.
This decision will greatly affect Pierce County and CHC. In 2025, CHC provided care to more than 54,000 patients, 6,453 of them seen by residents. At St. Joseph specifically, CHC providers gave care to 1,618 patients, performing 600 deliveries in addition to postpartum evaluations and newborn examinations. The residency has graduated 55 board-certified family physicians since its inception in 2014, most of whom serve in the local area. With the current shortage of primary care physicians, the loss of this training pipeline will greatly affect our region, especially low-income and underserved communities.
“Our local community already has a difficult time accessing health care in a reasonable amount of time,” said Dr. Carri Jo Timmer, the program director for CHC’s Family Medicine Residency program. “Who hasn’t heard a friend or family member complain about long wait times to access a primary care doctor? This announcement unfortunately worsens that reality.”
“We understand the challenges of health care organizations that stem from funding uncertainties, including recent changes at the federal level,” said Timmer. “Still, it’s disappointing to know that our partner of 50 years has chosen to focus on other priorities.”
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