Michael E. Gallagher

October 25, 2015

Red Herring – The false narrative in the Hospital District elections
By Michael E. Gallagher – Island resident and 35-year former senior healthcare executive.

We live in a small, friendly community, the envy of all who visit.  Here, neighbors help neighbors and the spirit of volunteerism runs strong.

I am greatly saddened to see the hostility and spite surrounding the Hospital Commissioner election. People are implying things about fellow candidates that are just awful and disturbing to the sensibilities of our community.

Why the rancor?  Some candidates appear to have a broader political agenda that is driven by an animosity towards a Catholic affiliated health care entity – Peace Health Care.  It is not enough that Peace was the only organization to offer to build and operate a Critical Access Hospital on our Island? It is not enough that they are honoring the agreement they entered into with our community?  Peace Health must be punished for its “Catholic values” – values that do not impinge upon the quality or scope of services contracted by our Hospital District.

A Critical Access Hospital is a facility that provides emergency care services 24/7.  It must have no more than 25 inpatient beds or an annual average length of stay greater than 4 days. It is not a full service hospital. Its mission is to treat, stabilize and transport urgent, complex cases to an appropriate facility.

Peace is contractually obligated to provide defined clinical services: primary care, emergency care, imaging, diagnostic and observation services, and simple medical admissions. However, some have made abortion or assisted suicide services a cause celeb. These services were never contracted for nor available before Peace’s involvement.

Even a Critical Access Care facility just doesn’t make economic sense for a small island population.  As a result, such services must be subsidized by island taxpayer dollars.  The District is obligated to pay for “Charitable Care” and EMS services.  Its board members have a fiduciary duty of care and loyalty in overseeing our tax levies. This is important given the $350,000 reduction in taxpayer support that occurs at year-end.

Some candidates running for Commissioner are pushing a false narrative that is, at best, misguided, or at worse, misleading and divisive.  They would have you believe that this election is about “Death with Dignity,” “Separation of Church and State,” and “Reproductive Rights.”  These platitudes are decidedly not the issues at hand, not in the purview of the District’s charter; nor the proper forum to address or promote one’s biased agenda at taxpayer expense.

An advertisement in the Journal called for us to vote for Williams, Sharp and Harrington if we support these three red herring issues. This is a diversion intended to generate an emotional voter reaction and support for candidates with a personal agenda.  I, for one, will not vote for this divisive cabal.  I urge you to join me and to vote for – Jenny Ledford, “Doc” Hancock, and Michelle Loftus.