Letter: Problems with hospital board are nothing new

Editor,

The hospital’s chickens have come home to roost.

Years of board policies and practices have brought a valuable community resource to the edge of collapse. Perhaps new, pinch-hitting CEO Layfield is just the man for the time with his experience in hospital bankruptcies.

As one who attended every hospital district board meeting for three years as a local newspaper reporter nearly a decade ago, I can tell you that many problems, leading to today, were present then. The commissioners, three of whom are still on the board, worked long and diligently to hide any issues of concern from the public. There was, and apparently continues to be, no transparency from this tax-supported public entity.

Newspapers have, as we know, greatly reduced resources and the costs of investigative journalism are very high. Jessie Stensland and the Whidbey News-Times should be congratulated on their commitment to and excellent coverage of the hospital crisis. A crisis that could have been prevented long ago by the hospital district.

Designated “critical access hospitals” such as WhidbeyHealth are those located where the population has limited access to hospital care and through extra government reimbursements are supposed to ”improve access to healthcare by keeping essential services in rural communities,” according to the Rural Health Information Hub website. As board policies and management practices over a long period created a revolving door for WhidbeyHealth staff, services were cut or degraded and patients went elsewhere.

I am mystified why lawmakers and other officials are running to other government agencies for money to “rescue” the hospital. This will merely kick the problem down the road once again and give longtime commissioners Fey, Cammermeyer and Wallin more leeway in compromising the health of islanders. It is of urgent concern, especially with more limited ferry access to other medical facilities. The county commissioners did the right thing in just saying no. Any bailout should be directly linked to a replacement of the current hospital board as the majority gang-of-three longtime board members have had pretty much a strike-out record.

Sue Ellen White

Port Orchard, WA