Island Interviews

Doctor Parobek
Health Matters, Island Interviews, Island Resilience, July 2025

Doctor Parobek

This might seem like a charming local story: Vashon has a practitioner whose advanced studies in psychiatric nursing are a great benefit to Islanders. But the old saying, “if you want to change the world, start locally” could not be more applicable. Just recently, Dr. Marli Parobek APRN DNP FNP PMHNP, was recognized by her…

Olga and the Ukraine War
Editorial Page, Island Interviews, May 2025

Olga and the Ukraine War

By Andy Valencia The Russia-Ukraine war has touched millions of lives. Who can make sense of lives being disrupted at such a scale? But the Loop had an opportunity to interview a remarkable young woman from Ukraine who literally heard the first shots of the war. Currently living on Vashon, she gave us a peek…

Littlest Bird Farm
Gardening, Island Interviews, March 2025

Littlest Bird Farm

By Andy Valencia For Kim Kambak, owner of Littlest Bird Farm, her farm is deeply intertwined with a catastrophic event in her life. There was her life before, and then there was how she continued afterward. The latter part happened here on Vashon, as she healed the land and brought it back to life as…

Island Interviews, October 2024

Why Now? Why Here? Part 2

By Caitlin Rothermel Last month, we ran part 1 of our interview with Dr. Marli Parobek, a Vashon resident and doctorally prepared nurse practitioner who is board-certified in family practice and psychiatry. Dr. Parobek previously developed and managed a voluntary inpatient medical rehab/detox center at the Astria Toppenish Hospital in Yakima, and is currently the…

Why Now? Why Here? Part 1
Island Interviews, News, September 2024

Why Now? Why Here? Part 1

An Expert Interview About the Thunderbird Treatment Center By Caitlin Rothermel Dr Marli Parobek is a doctorally prepared nurse practitioner, board certified in family practice and psychiatry. Starting in 2018, she developed and managed a voluntary inpatient medical rehab/detox center (American Society of Addiction Medicine [ASAM] level 4.0 and 3.5) and an involuntary inpatient psychiatric unit…