Hospital board election has seen a plethora of allegations | Letters

The services provided by the hospital, while imperfect, are better than having no hospital at all

October 28, 2015 5:41 pm

The current campaign for seats on the hospital district board has seen a plethora of allegations and a paucity of facts. Sue Buettell is to be commended for demanding verification of the allegations that Monica Harrington has supported litigation against the hospital district.

The documents she seeks have been collected at Believe the Best.For those who care to reflect on the documents provided, they would seem to depict a pattern of challenges by Harrington to PIMC, the SJCPHD, and many other health care providers with any relationship to the Catholic Church, no matter how tenuous.

It should be noted that her challenges to the Certificate of Need for PIMC would have prevented the hospital from opening, or would have forced it to close its doors, an issue of no consequence to Harrington who clearly has the resources to seek healthcare anywhere she likes, unlike most residents of the island.

Those who agree with Harrington that the narrow issues of elective abortion and assisted suicide should be pursued on San Juan Island even to the point of sacrificing our access to healthcare other than that provided by San Juan healthcare will applaud her relentless tenacity.

However, those who feel that the services provided by the hospital, while imperfect, are better than having no hospital at all may want to consider whether Harrington, with her documented preferences for litigation, confrontation and intimidation, should be trusted with a seat on the board.