For the 2021 Voters Guide, we emailed candidates a set of questions on professional experience, local priorities and general issues. We have included those questions and the unedited responses. We have noted when candidates left questions unanswered. We have also provided links to candidate websites, campaign funding reports and other local media coverage when available.
Any questions or suggestions should be sent to: whitmancowatch@gmail.com
BACKGROUND
Official county Voters Pamphlet statement
Pullman Regional Hospital board member profile
CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
How would you describe your current occupation or job title(s)?
I currently serve as the Director of Recreation Facilities and Operations for University Recreation and the Chinook Student Center at Washington State University. I operate recreation and student services facilities on campus at WSU.
What other memberships or community affiliations would you like to share with voters?
– I have served on the Board of Commissioners for Pullman Regional Hospital for 15 years and am currently serving as President of the Board.
– I am a member of Washington Officials Association and have served in the community as a high school and youth sports official for 25 years.
– I have volunteered as a youth sports coach for various community organizations in basketball and baseball.
What, if any, charities, political campaigns, or nonprofits have you donated money or volunteer hours to in the past year?
– I have been actively involved with the Pullman Regional Hospital Foundation through both financial donations and volunteering time for events.
– My family and I actively support the Whitman County Humane Society.
– I have also been involved in the development or on-going maintenance of several Little Food Pantries in Pullman.
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of and why?
In my over 24 years of employment at Washington State University, I have been involved in serving the student body and WSU community needs to provide active, healthy living. Through both my involvement at my job and involvement with the hospital, I am proud of the impact I have been able to help make on thousands of students, faculty, staff, and alumni in their efforts to lead healthier lives.
What is your vision for Pullman Regional Hospital as an organization and why?
The vision for Pullman Regional Hospital is to create a sustainable model that provides quality health care to the community. It is important to create and maintain an organization that will support the broad needs of the community and ensure access to quality healthcare on the Palouse.
What are the most important steps the hospital board has taken to support staff and operations during the pandemic?
As with every person and business, the pandemic has been extremely challenging to Pullman Regional Hospital. The most important step taken was the pledge to maintain positions for all staff. While everyone was impacted by the pandemic, it was critical to the hospital and the board to retain our amazing staff to help ensure quality care could continue to be provided.
How is Pullman Regional Hospital unique and how would you try to leverage its strengths?
Pullman Regional has an amazing culture and service that would be hard pressed to be matched at any hospital, much less a critical access hospital, the size of Pullman. This culture has been instrumental in PRH consistently being named as one of the best hospitals in region, state, and even nation. It is important for us to continue to foster this culture and add quality staff to support it.
What is the worst decision or biggest opportunity the board has missed the past five years?
While an individual can always look in retrospect for improvement in actions taken or not taken, there is not a specific decision or opportunity that I feel the board has “missed”. When needs arise, the board works with hospital staff, medical staff, and the community to make informed decisions with the information we have at the time. I have felt very fortunate to have excellent hospital and medical staff and live in a community that provides us useful information to guide our decision making process.
What do you think will be the most significant challenge or threat that Pullman Regional Hospital will face in the next five years?
The medical profession continues to be a significantly changing landscape on the national level. A majority of these changes are not things that can be influenced at the local level. Because of this lack of local influence, it will be important for us to foster a nimble organization that creates a self-determining path to address items such as reimbursement levels, physician recruitment/retention, and changes brought about post-pandemic.
Are you vaccinated against COVID-19?
Yes
Do you support COVID-19 vaccine mandates? Why or why not?
In general I don’t believe mandates are the preferred method of accomplishing things. I fully understand that without significant improvement in vaccination levels, it will not be possible to help keep people safe and avoid the overwhelming of the health care system that has been occurring. Without mandates, we will not be able to reach the vaccination levels that will ensure the ability to provide access to quality and safe healthcare.
How do you think the pandemic will change how people view health care and public health? Has it changed how you see it?
Health care is often something people don’t think about until they need it. The pandemic has pushed health care needs to the forefront for all and has likely made individuals think differently about healthcare and how they access it. For me the pandemic has reenforced my support for preventative health care and made me realize that access to health care when needed is something that should never be taken for granted.
What, if anything, would you change to make the hospital board more transparent or to improve communication with the public?
Continuing to provide opportunities for community input is crucial to the board’s operations. All hospital board meetings are open to the public and the hospital has consistently engaged in the community through surveys and the Next Era Excellence presentations that have occurred in the past. It is important for us to continue to solicit this feedback and use this information in decision making.
If you could wave a magic wand and instantly change one thing about Pullman Regional Hospital, what would it be and why?
The hospital and its staff have done an amazing job in creating a community hospital focused on quality care and patient needs. The culture allows the amazing medical staff within our community to meet its patients’ needs. Despite this excellent work, the nature of healthcare still places strong reliance and government support, particularly at the federal levels. While this support is critical, it can sometimes create restrictions in providing care. The ability to rely less on government and create more self-sustaining operations would reduce these constraints.