Letters to the Editor 10-16-14

No on Prop. 45
Editor: It is very important for the people of California to truly understand the negative aspects of Proposition 45, for everyone. Having been in the insurance industry for 30 years, and having worked for a major insurance company, I can tell you that the information that is being presented as factual, is not. How can a state, the size of California, have only one person being able to make all these decisions? Does any city council in the country, have one council member only? No, of course not. There have to be several people making decisions of such great nature.
The advertisements that you are hearing are talking about 20 to 50 percent profit for insurance companies. That is simply not true. The company for whom I worked had a profit margin of 3 percent. Now, it is a lot of money, as there are hundreds of thousands of insurance dollars being paid every month, so 3 percent of that is a large number, but it is not 20 percent or more.
Additionally, we must remember the new rule, where if an insurance company does not pay either 80 or 85 percent in medical claims, they must, and have been refunding money to their customers; I’m sure this creates confusion as well; “If they’re only having to use 80 percent of the money, then there’s 20 percent for profits.” However, there are many employees who work for those companies, and as part of their employment, they receive salary. Also, all the brochures, booklets, explanation of benefits, etc., costs money to produce. This too comes out of that 20 percent.
So, with all things considered, the insurance industry has changed, and is getting better. With more people having coverage, it will ultimately reduce premiums for everyone. So please, vote no on Prop. 45.
Nancy Aita
Sebastopol
Dog and pony show
Editor: The dog and pony show currently showing in West County communities to promote the reopening of a hospital in Sebastopol is a joke. They tell the audience in a firm voice that the hospital did not have to close. Really? So what do they suggest that the district should have paid its employee’s wages and other bills with? Pumpkin seeds? The board of directors was courageous in the face of much criticism and did the right thing.
When the bankruptcy is ultimately discharged, no one should believe that this hospital can reopen without a huge increase in real money — not large donations that don’t materialize, not more bonds that incur debt and not unrealistic plans for a hospital with a “no wait” emergency room. Remember that the $3.6 million received annually from the parcel tax has fallen short of making this hospital sustainable.
Ed Monroe
Forestville
Great candidates
Editor: I have worked with both Dr. Richard Powers and Dennis Colthurst over the years in my various capacities at Palm Drive Hospital. Based on my experiences with each of them I believe they are well prepared by their knowledge, history and community perspective to participate with other district board members in resolving the problems and acting on the opportunities at Palm Drive Hospital.
As our hospital district board members evaluate opportunities and decide on directions for the future, I believe it is most important that the district board includes members from two important community groups; healthcare delivery services and public safety.
Dr. Powers and Dennis each have long track records of exemplar service in their fields of healthcare delivery and public safety and have deep and broad community roots. They will 1) add valuable perspective and fair, representative voices to the district board, and 2) be passionate advocates for maintaining high quality healthcare delivery and related public safety services in our community.
Vote Dr. Powers and Dennis Colthurst onto the Palm Drive Health Care District board in November.
Glenn Minervini-Zick
Sebastopol
Support Jim Horn
Editor: I am writing to strongly endorse Jim Horn for the Palm Drive Healthcare District board. This continues to be a challenging time for the health care district and I am very encouraged that Jim Horn is actively involved as a positive, forward thinking influence, intelligently looking for realistic health care opportunities for the entire community. Jim is not a cheerleader for a cause, does not have his head-in-the-sand about the changes in health care and is not connected to any group or benefactor. Jim was never part of the negative energy in the community surrounding the closure of the hospital, he was always looking to be a positive force in a difficult situation. Jim owns a local engineering company and brings his “engineers” mind to the process, looking for the possible but making sure it makes sense. He has integrity, he is always respectful and professional, he does his homework, he speaks his mind, and he is tenacious. I do not know what the future of health care will be in the West County, but I am confident that it will be a better future with Jim Horn on the district board.
Chris Dawson
Sebastopol
Horn for Palm Drive
Editor: I’ve been involved with Palm Drive since 1998 when we first took over the hospital for the community, and have served on the board two times for a total of seven years. I would love to see our hospital reopened as much as any of you. However I am concerned by the popularity campaign being waged by Open Our Hospital.
Reopening the hospital is not an emotional decision, it is a financial decision. It would be tragic to reopen the hospital only to have it close again with another bankruptcy. This is why I am supporting Jim Horn for director of the Palm Drive Healthcare District in this election.
Jim can set aside the emotions and make this critical decision on the fundamentals and merits of the proposal put forth by the Open our Hospital group. We need that kind of rational thinking on the board. Please join me and my friends in voting for Jim Horn.
Frank Mayhew
Graton
Awesome plans
Editor: Being a resident of Monte Rio for five years, I was devastated when Palm Drive Hospital closed. Not only because I lost my job, but because now I was that much further from an ER. I am so happy to see that the old hospital could open up to be a medical center with all sorts of different medical entities inside. Particularly a “no wait” emergency room, which means if a patient comes in to the ER and cannot be treated and sent home within an hour, he/she will be admitted to an observation bed to free up ER space for others. How awesome is that? Not to mention alternative options like acupuncture, nutrition support, organic foods, and then of course lab, radiology, women’s health etc. Other services will be available too, that right now one has to go to San Francisco for. That’s awesome.
The fact that the new Sutter doesn’t take Medi-Cal is disturbing because even though those people can still go there, they will have a huge bill to pay. Which leaves Memorial, which is still just a hospital. In fact, this new medical center could potentially help out Memorial and Sutter with services that again are only available in San Francisco. Memorial and Sutter cannot possibly treat all the people in West Sonoma County and all the people in Santa Rosa, and surrounding communities in a timely manner. The taxpayers are paying for a hospital that is closed. The tax will not go away, neither will the facility, so why not have what we are paying for? The Foundation board’s plan for this new medical center is a new approach to something that has failed. It will succeed. Check it out for yourself on the Foundation’s website www.pdhcf.org. Please vote for Dennis Colthurst and Dr. Richard Powers for District Board, who support putting this plan into action.
Desiree Roffeld
Duncans Mills
Heath for 2nd District
Editor: Small businesses are the incubators of innovation and supply the energy that all America needs. As the owner of two businesses that keep me busy 60-plus hours a week, I can assure readers, editors and our politicians that we are over regulated and over taxed.
Matt Heath, running for Second District State Assembly, is also a small businessman with a family. He also values every individual’s right to be as free as possible from governmental interference in our everyday lives. He works hard to support his family and keep the business operational that employs your neighbors.
Monopolies are not good for consumers. Monopolies breed self-indulgence, incompetence and increased costs. We have a monopoly in Sacramento that currently can do whatever it wants.
What makes Matt Heath unique is that he is a fiscally responsible, socially liberal Republican. He believes in foundational principles of self-reliance and smaller government.
Robert Nellessen
Sebastopol
Trust issues
Editor: Have you all forgotten that Patrick Slayter was the deciding vote a few years ago that gave SVC a drive-through and cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyers’ fees? He may have changed, but I don’t trust him. A vote for Jonathan Greenberg, who cares about our library and hospital, would help.
Leonard Baron
Sebastopol
Be persistent
Editor: As you may know, we have been longtime financial supporters of Palm Drive Hospital and have given countless hours of our time as well. As crazy as it may seem to some, we are ready to do it again because we know that a dynamic new Sonoma West Medical Center can be financially viable. It can bring back 175 well-paying jobs to our community; keep our physicians in town, and save many lives in the coming years. That looks like a winner to us.
We realize that it takes a leap of faith to envision something wonderful where there has been a great calamity, but isn’t that what life is about, turning our setbacks into new opportunities? Instead of listening to the erroneous reasons why we can’t be successful, lets work together to figure out how we can.
Thomas Edison built 9,000 light bulbs before he built one that worked. Steve Jobs bombed with the Apple 3, the Lisa and Next. Armand Hammer went bankrupt seven times before becoming a billionaire. (He commented late in life that he wished he had done it more because he learned so much each time.) Marconi built lots of radios that didn’t work before he was able to transmit across the Pacific. All of these people and millions of others became successful for one reason: They didn’t accept failure as their life story. They kept trying.
As Naomi Newman says, “Fall-down-get-up should be all one movement. Some people fall down and just lie there for the rest of their lives.” Is that who we want to be? We think not. West County residents are resilient and community spirited. Our fire departments are staffed with volunteers; our schools are some of the best in the nation, thanks to parents who take an active role. We stopped PG&E from building a nuclear power plant at Bodega Head, we built the Kortum Trail, we saved the Laguna, and we have saved our hospital before, so why stop now?
Having said this, we should learn from the past, not repeat it. The lessons here seem very clear to us: We need a different governance structure for our hospital. Other hospital districts, like Marin, have already learned this lesson and have built large non-profit boards of business leaders to manage their operations very successfully.
Also, healthcare has migrated to outpatient care and we have to build a great ambulatory program. We have to have specialties that are in demand; we have to be better than others at some things and let people know about it; and we have to manage our costs like any other successful business.
The new plan that is forming incorporates these lessons and builds on the clinical excellence of Palm Drive, a superlative small hospital that was rated number one in California for patient safety and number five in the nation by Consumer Reports in the same month it was closed.
We invite everyone to join us on this amazing journey of creativity and perseverance that includes our local physicians, leaders like Gail Thomas, Dr. Richard Powers, Dennis Colthurst, Dr. James Gude and many others. There is still a lot of hard work ahead but we know from history that once the dust settles, people will line up to join the parade. By being a part of this dynamic movement, the life you save may be your own.
We strongly support Dr. Richard Powers and Dennis Colthurst for the Palm Drive District board as our best hope to Open Our Hospital.
Dan Smith and Joan Marler
Sebastopol
Powers and Colthurst
Editor: In the upcoming election on Nov. 4, residents of the Palm Drive Health Care District will be permitted to vote for directors of the District board. Over the past few years the current board had made some appalling mistakes in handling finances of the District. This has resulted in the closure of the Palm Drive Hospital and the bankruptcy filing for the second time for the District. It’s time to get some people elected to the Board that will use good judgment and common sense in handling the future affairs of the District. There are two candidates that are well qualified to serve as directors, Richard Powers, M.D. and Dennis Colthurst. I know both of them well and both are very dedicated to the community and have good ideas to solve the problems of the district and will exercise good judgment for a change. I am pleased to endorse both of them for election to the district board.
Phil Aaron
Sebastopol