HEALTH CARE TRENDS
Marin, Petaluma hospital races pivotal to future
Published: Monday, September 29, 2008 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, September 26, 2008 at 3:20 p.m.
GREENBRAE, PETALUMA – The candidates elected to the Petaluma and Marin health
care district boards will directly impact the future of Marin General and
Petaluma Valley hospitals.
Both sit on the brink of a transition, and the contenders for a limited number of seats in both places are clearly divided.
In Marin, the rift in ideologies is nothing new, but the power struggle between the two groups will go in one side’s favor in November and that majority will take the hospital into its landmark transition back to district control.
One side favors the creation of a second governing board for the hospital that would lead day-to-day operations, and the other has expressly opposed the idea.
In Petaluma, a fissure occurred more recently when a group of Petaluma doctors announced plans to create an ambulatory center after the hospital’s operator, St. Joseph Health System-Sonoma County, decided not to collaborate on a site.
Four doctors are campaigning together for three open seats and say now is the time to prepare for the hospital’s own transition once St. Joseph’s contract expires. The contract expires in 2017.
The following is a list of the candidates in alphabetical order with a brief bio.
Fran Adams – Ms. Adams is a registered nurse and works at Petaluma Valley Hospital as a case manager.
Gerald Besses – Dr. Besses describes himself as a semi-retired physician, practicing full time in Petaluma from 1977 through 1998. He still does some work for patients in nursing homes and as medical director for Petaluma Care and Rehabilitation.
“The most important issue for this election is the survival of the hospital,” he said. ”Physician recruitment is key.”
A Philadelphia-native, he graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1970 and trained as an internist and endocrinologist in New York, UCSF and Yale. He briefly practiced law after graduating from Empire Law School in 1995. He is also a member of the South Sonoma County Medical Group.
Liz Close (incumbent) – Ms. Close has served on the district board for a total of eight years. She is a professor and the chair of the Department of Nursing for Sonoma State University. A Petaluma resident since 1990, she served as a registered nurse for more than 32 years.
Robert Hill (incumbent) – Current district board president, Mr. Hill has more than 30 years of experience in health care. He helped develop Petaluma’s South Sonoma County Medical Group and has worked as an independent consultant for the last 10 years.
In the past, he’s worked as a statewide director of marketing for Blue Shield and as a consultant for start-up organizations including the Independent Practice Association.
He also previously worked as a medical director for St. Luke’s and as vice president for United Foundations for Medical Care. He was born in San Francisco and has lived in Petaluma for more than 40 years. “The board that will be elected now will have to prepare the next board for what will happen when the St. Joe contract is up,” he said.
Mr. Hill said he hopes to contract with other community hospitals to help pool resources for electronic medical records and have greater bargaining power with insurance carriers.
Robert Ostroff – Dr. Ostroff is a retired physician who is most recently recognizable for his leadership in the development of the South Sonoma County Medical Group’s proposed ambulatory center as president. The center has since been stalled.
He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1971 and was a full time emergency physician at Santa Rosa Community Hospital from 1973-1975, then moved to the same position at Petaluma Valley, where he worked for the next 27 years. He was the director of emergency services for 25 years of his tenure at the hospital.
“Petaluma Valley Hospital is suffering from a deficit of patients and surgeries, which in turn results from a deficit of doctors. An active recruitment process is the only cure for this problem,” he said.
Stephen Steady – Dr. Steady is a practicing physician at Petaluma Valley and other local hospitals. He grew up in Petaluma but worked for 15 years in San Francisco as a gastroenterologist and liver specialist. He returned to Petaluma in 2002 and is on the board of South Sonoma County Medical Group.
“Our direction differs from the current board, though I appreciate some of the work they have done so far,” he said. “No type of bond issue is reasonable without the immediate development of a strategic business plan for the future. The management contract [with St. Joe] is winding down, and if we do business as usual, the hospital will suffer.”
Sharon Jackson (incumbent) – Ms. Jackson is the current board chair and is campaigning with Dr. Harris “Hank” Simmonds with the support of the Alliance to Save to Our Hospital.
She has more than 25 years experience in health care as an executive and consultant and is currently president of Health Marketing & Management, a consulting firm for hospitals, health care systems, medical practices, nonprofits and others. She has served as an adjunct professor for the University of San Francisco since 1994 and at Dominican University since 2000.
“I support the plan to implement a subsidiary managing board. We are going to need between $500 million and $700 million to build a new hospital wing, and we need leverage and expertise to borrow money so that taxpayers won’t be responsible for 100 percent of that cost,” she said.
Dr. Frank Parnell – Dr. Parnell is running with incumbent Dr. Archimedes Ramirez. He’s a 28-year Marin General Hospital staff surgeon and founder and chief executive officer for San Rafael-based Parnell Pharmaceuticals. He is also a past Marin Community College board member and president and is on the board for the Ross School.
Dr. Archimedes Ramirez – Dr. Ramirez has scrutinized the idea of an operating board saying it limits transparency. He is a practicing neurosurgeon at Marin General Hospital and a diplomat of the American Board of Neurosurgery. He was chief of neurosurgery at Marin General from 1981 to 2003 and is a consulting neurosurgeon at Kaiser, San Rafael.
Peter Romanosky – Mr. Romanosky is running alone and is a 35-year Marin resident and former pastor and religious radio broadcaster.
Dr. Harris “Hank” Simmonds – Dr. Simmonds practiced obstetrics and gynecology in Marin from 1971 to 2006, when he retired. He currently serves as an honorary staff member of Marin General Hospital as chief of staff and chairman of the OB/GYN department.
He was elected to the medical advisory committee for the American Cancer Society and is a past board member for the Medical Board of California and the Marin Medical Society.
Both sit on the brink of a transition, and the contenders for a limited number of seats in both places are clearly divided.
In Marin, the rift in ideologies is nothing new, but the power struggle between the two groups will go in one side’s favor in November and that majority will take the hospital into its landmark transition back to district control.
One side favors the creation of a second governing board for the hospital that would lead day-to-day operations, and the other has expressly opposed the idea.
In Petaluma, a fissure occurred more recently when a group of Petaluma doctors announced plans to create an ambulatory center after the hospital’s operator, St. Joseph Health System-Sonoma County, decided not to collaborate on a site.
Four doctors are campaigning together for three open seats and say now is the time to prepare for the hospital’s own transition once St. Joseph’s contract expires. The contract expires in 2017.
The following is a list of the candidates in alphabetical order with a brief bio.
Petaluma Health Care District
(Three of five seats)Fran Adams – Ms. Adams is a registered nurse and works at Petaluma Valley Hospital as a case manager.
Gerald Besses – Dr. Besses describes himself as a semi-retired physician, practicing full time in Petaluma from 1977 through 1998. He still does some work for patients in nursing homes and as medical director for Petaluma Care and Rehabilitation.
“The most important issue for this election is the survival of the hospital,” he said. ”Physician recruitment is key.”
A Philadelphia-native, he graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1970 and trained as an internist and endocrinologist in New York, UCSF and Yale. He briefly practiced law after graduating from Empire Law School in 1995. He is also a member of the South Sonoma County Medical Group.
Liz Close (incumbent) – Ms. Close has served on the district board for a total of eight years. She is a professor and the chair of the Department of Nursing for Sonoma State University. A Petaluma resident since 1990, she served as a registered nurse for more than 32 years.
Robert Hill (incumbent) – Current district board president, Mr. Hill has more than 30 years of experience in health care. He helped develop Petaluma’s South Sonoma County Medical Group and has worked as an independent consultant for the last 10 years.
In the past, he’s worked as a statewide director of marketing for Blue Shield and as a consultant for start-up organizations including the Independent Practice Association.
He also previously worked as a medical director for St. Luke’s and as vice president for United Foundations for Medical Care. He was born in San Francisco and has lived in Petaluma for more than 40 years. “The board that will be elected now will have to prepare the next board for what will happen when the St. Joe contract is up,” he said.
Mr. Hill said he hopes to contract with other community hospitals to help pool resources for electronic medical records and have greater bargaining power with insurance carriers.
Robert Ostroff – Dr. Ostroff is a retired physician who is most recently recognizable for his leadership in the development of the South Sonoma County Medical Group’s proposed ambulatory center as president. The center has since been stalled.
He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1971 and was a full time emergency physician at Santa Rosa Community Hospital from 1973-1975, then moved to the same position at Petaluma Valley, where he worked for the next 27 years. He was the director of emergency services for 25 years of his tenure at the hospital.
“Petaluma Valley Hospital is suffering from a deficit of patients and surgeries, which in turn results from a deficit of doctors. An active recruitment process is the only cure for this problem,” he said.
Stephen Steady – Dr. Steady is a practicing physician at Petaluma Valley and other local hospitals. He grew up in Petaluma but worked for 15 years in San Francisco as a gastroenterologist and liver specialist. He returned to Petaluma in 2002 and is on the board of South Sonoma County Medical Group.
“Our direction differs from the current board, though I appreciate some of the work they have done so far,” he said. “No type of bond issue is reasonable without the immediate development of a strategic business plan for the future. The management contract [with St. Joe] is winding down, and if we do business as usual, the hospital will suffer.”
Marin Healthcare District
(Two of five seats open)Sharon Jackson (incumbent) – Ms. Jackson is the current board chair and is campaigning with Dr. Harris “Hank” Simmonds with the support of the Alliance to Save to Our Hospital.
She has more than 25 years experience in health care as an executive and consultant and is currently president of Health Marketing & Management, a consulting firm for hospitals, health care systems, medical practices, nonprofits and others. She has served as an adjunct professor for the University of San Francisco since 1994 and at Dominican University since 2000.
“I support the plan to implement a subsidiary managing board. We are going to need between $500 million and $700 million to build a new hospital wing, and we need leverage and expertise to borrow money so that taxpayers won’t be responsible for 100 percent of that cost,” she said.
Dr. Frank Parnell – Dr. Parnell is running with incumbent Dr. Archimedes Ramirez. He’s a 28-year Marin General Hospital staff surgeon and founder and chief executive officer for San Rafael-based Parnell Pharmaceuticals. He is also a past Marin Community College board member and president and is on the board for the Ross School.
Dr. Archimedes Ramirez – Dr. Ramirez has scrutinized the idea of an operating board saying it limits transparency. He is a practicing neurosurgeon at Marin General Hospital and a diplomat of the American Board of Neurosurgery. He was chief of neurosurgery at Marin General from 1981 to 2003 and is a consulting neurosurgeon at Kaiser, San Rafael.
Peter Romanosky – Mr. Romanosky is running alone and is a 35-year Marin resident and former pastor and religious radio broadcaster.
Dr. Harris “Hank” Simmonds – Dr. Simmonds practiced obstetrics and gynecology in Marin from 1971 to 2006, when he retired. He currently serves as an honorary staff member of Marin General Hospital as chief of staff and chairman of the OB/GYN department.
He was elected to the medical advisory committee for the American Cancer Society and is a past board member for the Medical Board of California and the Marin Medical Society.
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