The upcoming election of three, non-partisan seats for the San Juan County Public Hospital District has become mired in personal opinions about religion, politics and the processes of abortion and end-of-life. It should be about preserving our expanded, local, quality health care, the EMS levy and continuing to support hospital care for the majority of San Juan County residents.
Hiding behind political buzzwords like “transparency,” “oversight” and “fairness,” it appears candidates Monica Harrington, Barbara Sharp and Bill Williams true aim is to embroil Peace Health and the San Juan County Hospital District in expensive legal wrangling and potentially damaging litigation. Legal and administrative costs will skyrocket, not just for the hospital, but for the taxpayers of SJC. Monica, leading point on this, is well aware that the American Civil Liberties Union has already begun actions against several regional hospitals.
She stated she “doesn’t believe for a minute” that her actions will force Peace Health to perform abortions or end-of-life procedures. So, what is her ultimate goal? If it is simply about our tax dollars being “fairly” allocated, we should consider how much of the tax levy allocated to PeaceHealth could or would have been spent on the disputed procedures versus the hundreds of other services the hospital provides. I would venture that it is miniscule.
Abortions and end of life counseling are available from public and private sources here and in nearby communities, often at little or no cost.
We should all be concerned that a thinly disguised political agenda such as this would invite dissension in the local and medical community. Forcing PeaceHealth to discuss, define and validate their long-standing and well documented position and treatment over and above the significant reporting they already provide, purely for the sake of a political agenda, is wrong.
Conflict within the medical community in San Juan County could certainly have the undesired effect of driving away new, young, medical professionals and possibly, PeaceHealth itself. PeaceHealth was virtually the only hospital willing to help us provide care in a low population, rural community. Do we want to risk driving them away?
Rich Fowler
Friday Harbor
