This [failure of Measure F] makes [our task now] even more challenging,” said hospital board president Dick Kirk. “We need to be assertive, move on with the business plan, make sure people get the care they need.” To him, the priorities are immediate and obvious: clearly, there is a need to reach out to the community and continue to communicate and build support, but serving the community’s on-going medical needs by maintaining and strengthening the hospital’s capacity is a basic requirement. “Our biggest concern, short and long run, is what to do if we have a major equipment failure,” he said. “Stuff has not been upgraded. We need to develop some additional contingency planning.”
To that, Sonoma City Manager Linda Kelly would add an emphatic nod. In an e-mail, she said, “Having a hospital right here in our community is a tremendous asset and resource…For our own community security, it is in our own interests to ensure that our hospital is seismically safe and can handle the medical capacity that a large event may require.” Few would disagree with that. So, what happened with the bond measure, and where was the community support?
“I’ve come to the same conclusion as others have,” said boardmember Bill Boerum, “I think the amount should be much larger.” He said people might have been more motivated had the bond been for the full amount for the whole new hospital – and a conclusion to the problem. “Originally, I had advocated that offering a bond of $140 million, which says we’re going to build a hospital and fulfill the dream. Remember I said, ‘Keep your eye on the prize.’ Well, the prize wasn’t here.” On the other hand, even had the prize been there, getting the message to the voters might have been difficult. “I view this as a technical defeat in that we didn’t have the money to run the campaign,” he said. They spent $105,000 to run Measure B, and $75,000 for Measure F, as compared to $160,000 for Measure C, which also failed. “My feeling is there was a lot of voter fatigue and volunteer fatigue,” he said. “They were just spent on the issue.”
Community activist Gary Edwards views the campaigns themselves as part of the problem. “I think we keep launching these campaigns, but expecting a different outcome every time. You gotta change your ways,” he said. “What the community is looking for is straightforward honesty. I don’t believe the stealth campaign–not that it wasn’t honest–works. People are pretty sharp. Given what people are feeling economically right now, they’re thinking, ‘Well we’re going to pass this for $45 million and then they’re going to come back and ask for another $250 million.’ That’s what I heard out on the street.” He said it’s important to see this issue in perspective. Hospitals all over the state are in trouble, the competition from Kaiser and Sutter are bearing down hard, and people are seeing “For Sale” signs going up everywhere. It makes people cautious.
Nevertheless, campaigns or no, he agreed with Kirk that the community’s health needs continue, and must be met. “We really need to get behind our fire med and behind the fire department and the effort they’re doing,” he said. “Because that’s where it really counts. I just think it’s important that we’re making sure our infrastructure is working and that’s funded.”
The hospital board will be meeting as this paper goes to press. Visit our website at www.sonomasun.com for an update.
Hospital looks to what’s next
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