Hospital district’s direction needs to change

In reference to James Preston’s letter in the Sept. 8 Journal, I have attended the last two monthly hospital board meetings – from start to finish – and heard no shouting matches. Questions were asked with answers given by a board member or the hospital administrator.

I believe this board and those before them are interested in keeping our hospital open. However, what this board/administration fails to acknowledge is that they have stepped on the toes of the people supporting the hospital/clinic when they offered our doctors a contract they could not accept and then failed to keep working for a mutually agreed contract.

How soon we forget that when these two doctors came home to practice our hospital district began to slowly crawl out from under the special tax levies needed for operations. Then hospital administrator Jim Parrish brought this district to a sound financial position, including the base of the “funded depreciation” savings account the district has been building on.

When Parrish left the district the financial position was strong with over $5 million in the savings account. The incoming administrator switched levy requests to fund EMT services and the voters approved.

I was very surprised at last month’s meeting to hear the financial report stating the district had a year-to-date deficit of more than $800,000.

At this time with clinic numbers reduced, and feelings still rampant, it is time for a new beginning before the debt becomes too large to overcome.

This board/administration chose not to listen to the taxpayers/patients supporting the hospital/clinic last January. Voters now have the chance to make their wishes known in the upcoming election. Ballots will go out in the mail in late October and must be postmarked by election day, Nov. 8.

Sue Gardner, Ritzville