In early October a “referee” was brought on board to help keep order at meetings of the Valley Medical Center Board of Commissioners.
Referee isn’t the formal title, but it fits. Retired Renton District Court Judge Robert McBeth’s title is really parliamentarian. He makes $75 an hour.
Robert’s Rules of Order (no relation to McBeth) exist for a reason, so that meetings don’t devolve into personal battles and actions aren’t later challenged because accepted protocols weren’t followed.
McBeth was there Monday night, offering a gentle lead when necessary to help board President Sue Bowman keep the meeting on track.
The meeting was a model of decorum, something that’s becoming more commonplace with McBeth at the table. Let’s hope his services aren’t always needed.
It’s a good time for board members to act professionally. One of the biggest decisions ever to face any hospital board is now looming – whether to form a strategic alliance with UW Medicine. The board needs to set aside differences and concentrate on what’s best for patients, hospital staff and, of course, the hospital itself. It can’t come across as a dysfunctional family.
If you really want details of the disarray, go read the minutes of the board’s meeting or better yet watch the meeting videos on the medical center’s website (valleymed.org). As I’ve written before, if you don’t like what you see, then remember it at election time. I know that some of what I read and see bothers me.
Let’s face it. Valley’s board has lost some experienced community leaders from Renton and Kent, voted out by the public but not necessarily replaced by commissioners who came with the same collegial view of governance.
Valley’s future rests on three votes, a majority of its commissioners. I am fairly comfortable that three votes exist today to take Valley Medical – my hospital – in the direction I want it to go.
That’s why Mary Alice Heuschel’s interest in serving on the board is so important. Don Jacobson is one of those three votes. He is retiring from the board; Heuschel is interested in running for an open board seat. The stars have aligned.
Election Day is still a long ways off and a lot can happen or not happen. But Heuschel or someone of her caliber is the type of community leader needed to represent Renton’s interests on the board.
But in the meantime Jacobson’s long institutional memory is needed to help guide the board through the negotiations with UW Medicine.
Rich Roodman, Valley’s CEO, is doing his part of ease the tension. He has his supporters and detractors on the board. But the community should remember that Roodman, with the support of community-minded board members over the years, has built Valley into a well-respected medical center.
A couple weeks ago, in a column Roodman wrote for the Renton Reporter explaining the alliance with UW Medicine, he referred to himself. That caught my eye. He wrote that his management style has been “unconventional” at times. I appreciate his candor and his self-awareness. He knows he’s not perfect. Who is.
Then on Jan. 19 he sought to calm any tensions between commissioners and hospital leadership concerned that board intrigue is detracting from patient care. Thank his daughter for the imagery. Sitting at a drivers ed simulator, she “drove” into things because she was spending too much time looking in the rear-view mirror.
Roodman adapted her instructor’s advice to the board’s situation. Roodman suggests that all of Valley’s players know what’s on the horizon. Look back occasionally, but not too much or we’ll crash. Focus on the road ahead, to avoid the inevitable pothole and reach the destination safely.
That destination is an alliance with UW Medicine. It’s going to be a fast trip.
Roodman’s P.S. is most telling:
“My daughter recently completed her driver’s training classes and although it’s still a little scary when she’s in the driver’s seat, I’m sure I’ll learn to trust her over time as I ride alongside her.”
Dean A. Radford can be reached at 425-255-3484, ext. 5050
