WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES: Hospital board selects new commissioner but may have violated OPMA

Rachel Rosen reports on the Whidbey Island Hospital District board meeting of Thu., Sep. 15, 2022:

The WhidbeyHealth board of commissioners selected a new colleague to join them in steering the direction of the public hospital district.

The manner in which the board voted on the choice — which involved secret ballots — likely ran afoul of the Open Public Meetings Act…

At a board meeting Thursday, Greg Richardson was selected out of three candidates who were interviewed.

They Said It

A total of seven people applied for the vacant seat. Board President Ron Wallin said he appreciated that so many people had applied.

[Applicant Greg] Richardson said that one of the primary obligations of the board is to communicate with the public and that is something he would focus on, along with the use of telehealth to help people who have limited mobility.

“Telehealth is something we could really capitalize on,” he said. “It would reduce costs.”

Richardson said he was inspired to apply for the position because he had been concerned about the financial and morale issues that WhidbeyHealth faced.

“I just sensed that there was something, with my background, that I could do from a standpoint of strategic leadership, of human resource consulting, of retention and talent management, which my background has been for the last 25 years,” he said.

Commissioner Grethe Cammermeyer said she thought his background was more suited to the role of CEO, although Richardson disagreed.

Morgan Cooper, a Langley resident, has over 25 years of sales and marketing-related experience. She worked in public relations at St. Luke’s Hospital, which she described as “a big challenge” because of negative public opinion related to the hospital location in a low-income area.

She said her experience could help WhidbeyHealth’s finances by building programs that will build revenue.

Wallin asked if she could separate her political involvement from the commissioner role. According toislandcountygop.com, Cooper is the vice chair of the Island County Republican Party’s executive board.

“This hospital is not a Democratic or Republican hospital,” Wallin said.

Cooper said she was surprised that he brought it up because it was a personal matter and that it would not affect her role on the board if she was selected.

[Applicant David] Allen said that while there would be no conflict of interest with serving on another hospital board, he would still resign from the Providence board if selected.

“I wouldn’t try to do both,” Allen said. “I think I could ethically but I just wouldn’t.”

Cammermeyer said WhidbeyHealth is working toward a behavioral health clinic and service line and wants to build a relationship with the University of Washington to do so. Allen said that was something he could do.

“Any health care organization should have educational pipelines,” he said.

Allen critiqued the board for using the meeting to present things like the finance and human resources reports.

“I’m not sure listening to reports is the best way to spend your time,” he said.

Commissioner James Golder said that the board needed to work on its public image and he didn’t think replacing Fey with a male commissioner would do that.

Cammermeyer disagreed, saying that gender should not be the reason for choosing the new commissioner and that boosting public image was not part of the role.

[Commissioner Nancy] Fey was in favor of Richardson. She said, “To me it’s very clear who I think should be sitting here, but it’s interesting to hear all of your opinions.”