As a taxpayer and resident of Public Hospital District  No. 1, my primary concern is whether the Board of Commissioners is taking actions that enhance and support the long-term sustainability of high-quality health care as provided by Valley Medical Center. It is very clear that Commissioner Hemstad has other priorities, to the detriment of all of us who depend on Valley Medical as a cornerstone provider of top-notch medical services in this area. In his recent article in the Renton Reporter, Hemstad used multiple arguments against the proposed affiliation with UW Medicine that are either disingenuous or downright irrelevant.

He alleges that ownership and operational control over VMC would be lost to UW Medicine. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is 100 percent clear that Public Hospital District  No. 1 would retain full ownership and control of VMC and that our tax dollars would be spent only to benefit local taxpayers. However, a “merger,” which he says should be considered, WOULD nullify ownership and control by the voters.  As Mr. Radford stated in his editorial, it’s just a “red herring” designed only to delay, and thus sabotage, the proposed affiliation.

Contrary to another allegation by Hemstad, the new alliance would not “delegate all power for overseeing VMC’s operations to a new board . . . “   In fact the influence of the VMC board would actually increase, because it would become part of the governing committee structure of the alliance!  Accountability would not disappear, as he contends – another example of the emptiness of his arguments against the alliance.

Hemstad’s proposal to put this alliance before the voters is truly just another “red herring.”  One of the benefits of a representative democracy is dealing with issues of public interest efficiently. Setting up a public vote for every major issue would waste many millions of dollars and dramatically slow down the decision-making process. If we’re going to have a public vote for every major issue that arises, then why bother with having elected officials in the first place?

Another issue is Hemstad’s referral to public hospital districts as “an anomaly in urban areas.” This is patently absurd. The purpose of a public hospital district is to ensure that the people in specifically defined areas have access to quality health care at a reasonable cost – even those folks who, through no fault of their own, do not have health insurance or the means to pay for care out-of-pocket. Why does it matter whether the area in question is “rural” or “urban?” I personally see examples of this every Saturday morning, as a volunteer at a local free medical clinic operated by a 501(c)(3) charitable organization (and supported by VMC-affiliated medical volunteers).

Mr. Hemstad argues that “UWM and others will likely expand their health services within the boundaries of PHD No. 1 in the future – and wouldn’t need subsidies to do so.”  Does this mean he’s proposing that Valley Medical Center should just wither away and disappear?  In the first place, UW Medicine is a public institution supported by tax dollars – as is Valley Medical Center! As a taxpayer myself, I see the few dollars I pay into VMC’s support as one of the best bargains I’ve ever gotten! He implies that having a property-tax-supported institution like VMC is unnecessary because all the other medical facilities in the area provide charity care. If he were to check out the hard facts (which he clearly has not done), he would find that a growing number of health care organizations are refusing to take patients who are covered by Medicare and Medicaid (not to mention those completely uninsured), the one exception being genuine life-threatening emergencies. His insinuation that VMC has basically outlived its usefulness is patently ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned, Commissioner Hemstad’s opposition to the affiliation with UW Medicine has absolutely no reasonable basis and is harmful to the citizens of PHD No. 1.  This proposed affiliation is an opportunity to take Valley Medical Center, already an excellent medical institution, to an even higher level.

Given Mr. Hemstad’s clearly negative attitude toward the institution he’s supposed to be serving, I would hope that he would consider resigning from the Board of Commissioners. He’s trying to portray himself as some kind of champion of the taxpayer. Well, I am one of those taxpayers and believe firmly that his actions are extremely harmful to me and my neighbors.  It’s time for him to step down!

Jim Sullivan of Renton  is a Renton businessman and a member of the President’s Advisory Council at Valley Medical Center.