Dan Cline’s routine visit to the Anticoagulation and Lipid Clinic at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center March 30 was cause for celebration. Cline’s visit was the 300,000th since the clinic opened in April of 1996.

The clinic monitors patients with blood clot disorders, high cholesterol and other risks for heart disease or stroke, usually treating them with blood thinners and other medication. Anyone on anticoagulation therapy must have their blood checked regularly and confer with a pharmacist.

Cline lives in Startup. He has multiple myeloma and like many patients on chemotherapy, takes a blood thinner to prevent blood clots. He began coming to the clinic in 2003.

Cline may have made patient visit number 300,001. Another longtime patient, Allyn Lindemann of Sammamish, checked in at the same time and the staff couldn’t determine who was number 300,000 and 300,001. Lindemann has been a patient for more than a year. She was severely injured when a drunk driver hit her car the night her son graduated from high school. She had three strokes during her initial hospitalization and has been on blood thinners since then.

The staff at the Anticoagulation Clinic celebrated with everyone who visited on March 30 – offering patients and their families cookies, candy and fruit.