Valley Medical hijacking halted; conflicts exposed

It is my belief that both hospital Commissioners Anthony Hemstad and Aaron Heide conspired with Renton resident Chris Clifford to file an ill-conceived recall petition against me, in an all-too-obvious effort to hijack my vote on the UW Medicine strategic alliance. Mr. Clifford is widely recognized as a serial petitioner of recalls; indeed, he previously filed an unfounded recall petition against hospital Commissioner Don Jacobson. As in the case of Commissioner Jacobson’s recall petition two years ago, a judge recently threw out Mr. Clifford’s petition against me because it lacked both factual and statutory legitimacy. The bogus recall petition filed against me was intended to hijack my vote on the UW Medicine strategic alliance and to impugn my reputation.

By Carolyn Parnell • June 9, 2011 2:09 pm

(Editor’s note: Previously,  Anthony Hemstad and Dr. Aaron Heide, members of the Board of Commissioners for Public Hospital District No. 1, have written lengthy commentaries for the Renton Reporter about the strategic alliance between Valley Medical Center and UW Medicine.)

It is my belief that both hospital Commissioners Anthony Hemstad and Aaron Heide conspired with Renton resident Chris Clifford to file an ill-conceived recall petition against me, in an all-too-obvious effort to hijack my vote on the UW Medicine strategic alliance.  Mr. Clifford is widely recognized as a serial petitioner of recalls; indeed, he previously filed an unfounded recall petition against hospital Commissioner Don Jacobson.  As in the case of Commissioner Jacobson’s recall petition two years ago, a judge recently threw out Mr. Clifford’s petition against me because it lacked both factual and statutory legitimacy. The bogus recall petition filed against me was intended to hijack my vote on the UW Medicine strategic alliance and to impugn my reputation.

 

Background

Chris Clifford is a long-time associate of both Sen. Pam Roach from Auburn and Commissioner Anthony Hemstad. Even though both commissioners Hemstad and Heide voted to pursue the possibility of an alliance with UW Medicine, immediately afterward they began initiating a host of nefarious, collateral attacks on the proposal. These “red herrings” were deliberate attempts to divert attention from the potential benefits of the alliance, with the hope of slowing it down or killing it completely.  When these efforts failed, both voted “no” against the alliance. Their vote is hardly surprising, given their true interests. It is my belief that Commissioner Hemstad cares only about his political ambitions, and Commissioner Heide has a blatant conflict of interest.

 

Heide’s economic conflict

There are numerous examples of Commissioner Heide’s conflict. He is a discontented previous Valley Medical Center employee who currently is the stroke medical director at Auburn Regional Hospital, Valley Medical’s closest competitor. He is paid to directly compete with the institution he is supposed to steward.

His economic success is tied directly to the success of Auburn Regional and specifically its ER department where many stroke patients enter their system. This conflict was on display when he voted against Valley’s proposed ER in Covington, which again would directly compete with Auburn Regional Hospital and his practice there. Dr. Heide could have recused himself from voting to eliminate his economic conflict, but he chose not to. Instead, he spoke openly in a public meeting last summer in favor of a proposal for Auburn Regional to expand its hospital – even a blind man could see his obvious conflict of interest by these actions alone.

More profoundly, Commissioner Heide voted “no” against the alliance with UW Medicine. I believe that it was because the alliance opens the possibility for a more comprehensive stroke center at Valley Medical Center, thus causing a disadvantage for Auburn Regional Hospital and to Dr. Heide’s economic interests.

Dr. Heide has on several occasions openly conceded that he is conflicted.  Astoundingly, he also has openly stated that he would leave his position at Auburn Regional if he could rejoin Valley’s stroke program. This is a direct conflict of Dr. Heide’s position as a hospital commissioner; his intention of applying pressure for his own personal economic advantage is appalling.

 

Hemstad’s political conflict

Commissioner Hemstad also voted “no” against the VMC/UW Medicine alliance but for political reasons, in my opinion. Since 2007, he has openly questioned the need for Valley to be a district hospital, ignoring the fact that the district’s public nature affords the ability to provide for our most needy community members. The alliance would preserve the hospital district which displeases Commissioner Hemstad, who is politically motivated to “reform” something, anything at Valley. No doubt his hope is to leverage this “reform” for his own personal political ambitions. My belief is that he intends to use his position at Valley as a stepping stone for his political gain and eventually run for a higher position.

Commissioner Hemstad’s refusal to sign or abide by the Valley Code of Ethics is also telling. He highlighted the Code of Ethics for city managers (but refused to abide by them) when he chose to run for election without regard to the facts, or necessity or wisdom of his “reform.” He also voted “no” against Valley’s proposed ER in Covington, but consider this:  Multicare wants to build an ER in Covington, too.  Multicare has been the highest level of sponsor for Commissioner’s Hemstad’s employer, the World Trade Center in Tacoma. Like Commissioner Heide, Commissioner Hemstad did not disclose this blatant conflict, nor recuse himself from the Covington ER vote. This political gamesmanship is a horrible abuse of his position.

 

Medical staff sanctions

Both Commissioners Hemstad and Heide have been questioned by the independent medical staff at Valley Medical Center for their conflicts of interest and have received two letters from the Medical Executive Committee sanctioning them for their disruptive behavior in April 2010 and May 2011.  The Medical Staff Executive Committee has issued a “no confidence” vote of these partners in disruption. These actions by physicians are unprecedented at Valley and any other hospital.

 

Transparency and the recall petition

I believe the recall petition filed against me was just a “hail Mary” pass thrown by two desperate, power-hungry commissioners, fronted by serial petitioner Chris Clifford in a last-ditch effort to derail the Valley Medical/UW Medicine alliance.

 

Silence broken

I’ve been silent far too long.  I feel obligated to expose what I believe to be the truth about these public officials. I thank God Commissioners Bowman and Jacobson joined me to vote for the strategic alliance with UW Medicine and stood up to the bullies. I thank God for the judicial system that threw out Mr. Clifford’s bogus recall petition that was intended to hijack my vote and would have prevented VMC’s advancement to affiliate with one of the best teaching and research medical organizations in the country.

 

Carolyn Parnell is a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Hospital District No. 1, which owns and operates Valley Medical Center.