The OMC Commissioner and Board President addresses conflict-of-interest questions, financial accountability, and the hospital’s path to recovery in a written Q&A
Very concerning non-answers in so many places - repeatedly suggesting the Board deserves no blame for the Hospital's problems. Very interesting suggestion since she's also claiming credit for being on the way to fixing the problems through hiring the new turnaround specialists.
I agree on your non-answer analysis. Still no answer to recording meetings. As of last week Department of Health violations were still not corrected. Touts walking the floor since August of this year, where was she the last six years? Leadership?
It's easy to 'step out in front' as a last minute gesture, especially when there is no accountability, transparency or real ethics oversight...one can sign all kinds of disclosures but if those disclosures are not made public and have no accountability in REALITY, it's all dog-and-pony shows!🥸
Having a “one on one” in-person conversation with Jeff, and not running her answers by her legal constituents, that would have made her additionally trustworthy & potentially “honest”.
Whereas her long.. un-accountable *recusing, blaming & deflecting statements will continue to keep me cynical and sided.
PS.
The Hospitals are all failing in “Rural” areas across the Country..
I listened to Speaker Johnson this morning.
It’s much bigger than the simple brain would want to believe.
Interesting, I didnt read it like this at all. I read explanations for why and what the boards role is NOT when it comes to the hospitals operational management.
The public hospital district commission shall appoint a superintendent, who shall be appointed for an indefinite time and be removable at the will of the commission.
(1) The superintendent shall be the chief administrative officer of the public district hospital and shall have control of administrative functions of the district. The superintendent shall be responsible to the commission for the efficient administration of all affairs of the district.
(1) The public hospital district superintendent shall have the power, and duty:
(a) To carry out the orders of the commission, and to see that all the laws of the state pertaining to matters within the functions of the district are duly enforced.
(b) To keep the commission fully advised as to the financial condition and needs of the district.
The kommissars, whatever organization they are overseeing seem to be the key to the problems...and I mean the hospital kommissars. in this case...or any kommissar, in any organization.
How do we end up with these people? Not through transparency and accountability, that's obvious.😎
First off, Kommissars? Really? Pretty sure the Democratically elected Board members are not managing who says what to whom on behalf of the state...
Secondly, YOU. You voted for them...or didnt. YOU have one vote and 1 vote matrers in these elections. If you are not voting, you words are worth nothing.
You, as a cirizen, if you voted, have an obligation to monitor the job your elected representatives are doing. YOU can show up at meetings. You can speak. You can ask for records. YOU have access. Its all well and good to gripe about what you THINK but it is abundantly clear here, you dont KNOW and that? Is entirely up to YOU.
Yes, it’s up to me, attending meetings, writing emails, with no responses. Why do we hire people to handle running the hospital if we have to run it? Open public meeting act does not require transparency. Not publishing financials for most of year does not allow scrutiny by public. Your right it’s time to vote.
We elect. They run it. We scrutinize, they adjust. We are part of the mechanism of running the hospital since it is a public hospital. But we do not have a role if we are not engaged in it. Unanswered emails have to be escalated and/or show up and make it known. Even demanding a change to the system that emails must be answered inside a given time. In a society that does not defer all control of all social systems to the state, we can only have an impact on the things we decide to KEEP engaging with.
Jeff thank you for this. A couple of points. I asked Ms. Henniger in a Next Door chat whether she supported giving subsidized healthcare to illegals; she never responded. Also, with her conflicts with JKT she has to recuse herself from many important decisions. Don’t we need a commissioner that can participate in those decisions? Lastly, I find this last minute response to questions interesting in its timing. It was nicely put together but I see no acceptance for past problems, only promises “to do better.” You can’t blame problems on the current fiscal climate, over which you have no control. People are seeking solutions.
Many of us simply want more information before forming conclusions. That is why I spoke with roughly 20 current and former employees, attended multiple debates, and stayed after several Commissioner meetings to speak directly with most of the sitting Commissioners. After the pandemic surge, revenue rose sharply in 2021 and remained elevated in 2022. By early 2024, once the full-year 2023 results showed declining revenue and rising costs, I believe the Board should have pressed management more aggressively. I assume some discussions and actions were occurring internally, but building consensus on a seven-member board appears to have delayed decisive steps.
Several comments from Commissioners about Ann’s performance as the new Chair starting this year influenced my perspective. One noted she brought “greater organization and intensity,” and another stated, “I couldn't do as good a job as she has.” Those comments prompted me to reconsider my initial vote.
At the same time, I was stunned to learn that only 2 of 80 providers were meeting the 50th-percentile productivity benchmarks specified in their employment contracts. Providers receive monthly performance updates, yet prior leadership avoided enforcing expectations out of concern for turnover. The new candidates did not meaningfully address this issue, despite having direct knowledge, which concerned me.
Additional details on my research and reasoning are available on The Real Port Angeles Group on Facebook. Post election, I will continue to monitor productivity and financial indicators. I am finalizing historical data spreadsheets and plan to forecast through 2027. I am willing to share the worksheets with anyone interested.
I was impressed with the answers. I had to look up;
Disproportionate Share Hospitals serve low-income patients and receive payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to cover the costs of providing care to uninsured patients.
This explains to me a great deal. I would never have expected to fall below what is probably already a very low 8%. (Expecially in PA, a city that is definitional with 'low income'.)
It seems this and this alone really goes to the "millions".
I read a very intelligent person with good answers. I am certainly not an expert on the OMC so I leave it to another that is.
Someone with 'all the answers', which are no answers at all as far as making things better, seems suspicious to me...she's slick, that's for sure. A true 'professional' nurse!👩⚕️
It seems to me money is a big part of the problem. I know that's always the Dem answer to everything but in this case I think it is a contributing factor.
"We have a poor payer mix wherein 85% of our patients are covered by government insurance, which pays abysmally less than the cost of care provided."
I WILL say $250 grand per year AND raises is obscene for a hospital in this condition.
I really do NOT care that a hospital administrator makes $1 mill elsewhere... Yeah Cedars Sinai... Hardly a comparison and I do not hear they are going broke.
You FIX the situation you get the money.
Other than that I have no reason to doubt her response.
I do take issue with defending the obscene salary in Port Angeles WITH annual raises. That's ridiculous.
And WHAT have the consultants done to date that has CHANGED the situation?
Still there is no answer to how to fix the money issue.
My suspicion is we, we CC taxpayers, are paying for drug addicts and 'migrant workers'.
Re your last line. I looked into this myself and indeed, there is no mechanism in a public hospital system to decide who is eligible for care based on economic status, immigration status etc. The intake system doesnt go there. So if there is necessary change to that effect, it is at the state level AND of course, locally re indigent population, at the municipal level.
I asked Ann Marie about that. Her response :
"That’s the law we are bound to as a public hospital district"
I don't deny the law or the moral obligation. I am beyond unhappy at the state of the country in terms of immigration and drug addiction that drives the impact on our hospitals.
I appreciate Ann’s response to the questionnaire and thank her. I would have preferred a one on one interview, because many of the responses to the questions needed some follow up questioning to verify the accuracy of her statements: As in question # 1 and other statements made down the list.
Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Concerns. 1. Many people may not realize that you work for the Jamestown Tribe — a corporation that competes directly with OMC in several areas. That’s raised concerns about whether there’s a conflict of interest in serving on both sides of that relationship. How do you separate those roles and reassure voters that your loyalty is to OMC’s patients and taxpayers?
“I recuse myself from the vote. To date, there have been no conflicts re: Jamestown Tribe”
"When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe."
What catastrophe are we NOT learning lessons from? The catastrophe of our current predicament, for starters. Our only hospital is publicly funded and stands of the brink of total collapse under the enormous weight of mismanaged finances, failing policies, and a complete lack of true leadership. How can any person enter a position of management when they must answer to two separate and competing "bosses"? Common sense would dictate that it's not useful (nor honorable) to place any person in such a conflicted position. This is not a judgement against Ann. It's a logical deduction. Recusing yourself from a vote defeats the purpose of being put in a position to vote. It certainly doesn't seem like "progress" to me.
What would a better reaponse look like? OMC has to partner with Jamestown to meet our regions care needs. Seems to me the only way to do that is recusal when Board relative discussions take place. Its arguable that ANY board member in our area could be seen as in conflict if they have any other role where income or profit somehow tied to care. Much easier to separate in a larger area, but in a small county, many here have dual roles in the healthcare world.
I do wish Jeff had explained at the outset of this article WHY she cancelled. It reads like it was avoidance, I do not believe it was.
Technically yes, but if they werent there, we would have issues with providing adequate care and thus, OMC wouls have to SPEND more....so rather they are partners in care and separatley managed is what I would view it as. Our area, our patient demographic and our type of hospital, IMO, would not be able to handle all the care needed in the county. What I see is some attempt at finding balance between them vs competing agaisnt each other.
Last year around this time we had a horrible experience with OMC involving our 96 year old mother after a medical emergency in her home. Transported to OMC and things went downhill from there. Admitted to hospital after hours in the ER. We were there with her the next two days but never got to talk to the "social worker" or a doctor, only the very kind nurses. Wednesday at 6:30 pm Mom called to say she had been released and was waiting for us to pick her up. We had had NO communication with the "social worker" or the doctor. Finally the "hospitalist" called us an hour or so later and said ok pick her up tomorrow. On the way to find out what was actually going on the "social worker" called asking when we would be there. When I questioned the lack of communication she go upset with me and HUNG UP ON ME. Long story short Mom had of course tested positive for "covid" and was required to go to a rehab facility. After hours of waiting and calling she was moved to the most horrendous dirty rehab in Port Angeles. Also she required 24/7 care and was stuck there for 10 days. Again just a horrible stressful situation that could have been totally been avoided had the social worker or maybe even a doctor informed us. This sweet lady had every brain cell she was born with and was sharp as a tack. But to OMC she was just an old lady they wanted to move out of that room. So sad that we were all put through that with our loved one. This might happen to you or your loved one.
Thank you...I was never able to verbalize this to the hospital administrators. We had enough to deal with so today this helped to get our story out there. Just not a very caring place in our opinion.
I say kudo's to Ann for giving such detailed and thoughtful exlanations! As well as to Jeff for initiating this conversation. I just wish this had been printed sooner as many of us have likely voted. Keep up the good work....we need more like the both of you!
Yeah OK... Technically a "dialogue", realistically in this case, favors the written response with no followup. In common use a dialogue is a conversation, not a written response. But good on you.
This is a pretty public forum. Election is tomorrow. Might as well ask your follow up question here. Still time for answers you might be looking for. No?
Written conversation, next to none, is incredibly pathetic in value when ideas and points are to be discussed and understood. I'd even go so far as to say that Commissioner Henninger may have done more damage to getting crucial points across.
I am not encouraged by the responses of Ann Henninger here, however if nothing else "we" now have her words on the public record as the community moves forward and that is at least somewhat useful. The bottom line is that Ann Henninger was on duty as our OMC experienced a terrible self-inflicted economic disaster, and I hope that the folks in Clallam County keep that firmly in mind as a hard & fast reality~! I do realize that there are a great many in our troubled society who STILL believe the blatant lies of the mainstream media and other nefarious bad actors, who keep pushing the same COVID deceptions and extremely dangerous "vaccines". So, I find it EXTREMELY troubling that anyone in the medical community would be so grossly incompetent and/or criminally inclined as to fail in the now widely easy to research established and well documented science that absolutely proves that the entire COVID agenda was planned for many years and orchestrated as the largest scale mass murder democide that has ever been conducted on earth~! This article gives me great concern about Ann Henninger's competence as a medical worker, because she "apparently" has absolutely no clue that she oversaw and actually administered the very crimes against humanity of the COVID agenda herself. Is she THAT incompetent as a scientist and medical worker, or is she just hoping to evade her own personal responsibility? I am very sad to say that either way, Ann Henninger has dramatically failed in her profession and her duties as an administrator. Sooner or later, someone is going to have to stand up and admit that the COVID and dangerous "mandates", especially the horrific "vaccines" were ALL part of a greater agenda to control, harm, and kill people, so until "we" (society) can get to that point it would be foolish to trust our local or national medical establishment. The truth is definitely our there about the COVID disaster, so at best these hospitals that made the decisions to go along with all of the criminal and unscientific "mandates" screwed themselves and everyone that they exist to serve~! I do NOT accept that the COVID disaster created ALL of the financial problems within the medical community, and I resent the claims that it did, because poor management cannot be allowed to get off of the hook that easily~!
Yes, I understand what you are saying, but that really is my greater point~!
How many people who are employed in the Medical Industrial Complex are truly in it because they are in it for the scientific value, the science, with dedicated scientific minds~? Their job title is irrelevant~! This is exactly why and how the COVID mass murder democide was SO effective, because "we" have allowed WAY too many "hacks" who got into the field for the money and NOT for the science~? That goes for ALL field in the Medical Industrial Complex by the way, the technologists, the nurses, the doctors, and ironically the people who are actually paid as scientists themselves~! Ha! How many technologists, nurses, doctors and especially so-called "scientists" were either too ignorant and flat-out stupid who themselves fell for the very obviously fake science of COVID and ALL of the phony and themselves dangerous "mandates", including but in no way limited to the now proven dangerous and deadly vaccines? Hummmmm??? They were clearly NOT in the field for the science with well-trained scientific minds. This is abundantly clear by the fact that many of them have already killed themselves with the deadly COVID vaccines, so they did a LOT of harm to others AND ended up killing themselves just because they utterly failed as scientists. I don't know about you, and you are of course welcome to your own opinion, but I don't want ANY "help" from anyone in the medical field who is not a trained scientist in the general field of medicine and whatever specialty that they happen to be in. A GREAT example is my wife, who is demonstrably one of the best of the best vascular ultrasound technologists in the world~! For people who are ignorant of what vascular ultrasound folks do, they are the ONLY ones who actually identify and locate blood clots, and my wife was right on the front lines in early 2021 when the criminal Biden cabal released the deadly COVID vaccines and immediately proceeded to unconstitutionally "mandate" that everyone got the "clot shot"~! Yes, she is technically as good as it gets in her field, however what actually makes her one of the best of the best is that she is a VERY dedicated well-trained scientist with an excellent "scientific mindset"! Her choice in men is another matter! Ha Ha Ha! Anyway, almost 4 years ago my wife was viciously attacked, fired from her job, had her excellent reputation attacked, and threatened with criminal prosecution JUST because she was honestly answering her terrified patients' questions about their own vascular ultrasound tests~! So, my wife is ultimately one of the best because she puts her patient's health and wellbeing first and foremost~! Even though doing so has cost her well over $500,000.00 to date~! Do you know anyone currently in the medical field who has THAT kind of honor? HA~! Thousands of the best in the medical field got out when they saw what was really happening, so what kind of people do you think are in the medical field today??? Hummmm??? Now you are more than welcome to have all of the nurses, doctors, and so-called "scientists" that you want who are NOT in the field for the science, who don't have any personal or professional honor * integrity, and who will be happy to stick needles in you with dangerous things that they really know nothing about for their paycheck, but any sane individual would ONLY want medical workers who were REAL scientists! Did you know that medical malpractice has actually been one of the top three leading reasons of death in the US for decades now? Do you think that any old nurse is qualified to run an entire medical community, if he/she is NOT a truly dedicated scientist? Could that have anything to do with the financial and medical failures of the OMC? Ya think? Ha! Oh, and as a side note, "we" (American Patriots) are in fact fully aware that a number of doctors who are still working in the OMC not only refused to take the COVID vaccines themselves, but they told their nurses that they would be immediately fired if they told their patients the truth about those deadly vaccines. Many of these criminals who pose as "legitimate doctors" have already admitted that they NEVER take ANY vaccines whatsoever~! How do you like that? Not to worry though, because those doctors are already scheduled for Nuremberg style US Military Tribunals for their crimes against humanity, but many of them don't even know it (yet ;-) Sometimes I like surprises, don't you~??? HA~! Have a great day and keep the faith because this is the largest scale criminal "sting operation" the earth has ever known and in due time everyone on the planet will be aware of it and more than happy that the new medical system that focuses on the patient's well-being first has already been born~! Enjoy~!
It would have been nice to have a one-on-one conversation with her. Get her true reaction to the questions instead of long form written answers. Off the cuff in person gives more validity to me as we can tell by reaction and emotion. It is nice to get written answers but not without real time follow up questions. Thanks CCWD
Yes, this. Imagine choosing others with so much power and money behind them on written answers alone! Yes, she's out campaigning and hobknobbing, but that is not sufficient.
So much power and money behind them? You mean the other candidates that are endorsed by a Political party and who have accepted and promoted that emdosrement?
I have one question for Ann. Just one. How many tribe members were consulted in the preparation of these answers? Seems that would be a conflict of interest. At least we know now why she recused herself from the interview. I would need more time to prepare answers too, if I were in such a conflicted position.
Zero. ZERO Tribe members. She consulted me and a good friend of hers. I had reached out to her after she had to cancel the interview with Jeff and I asked Jeff if she could still respond. He offered yes. Time for a one on one has passed. So she wrote her responses. I looked them over along with the friend. Yeah, small town real life.
Here are her responses to these sorts of questions which I shared with her today and asked for her responses:
Re Cancelling the interview: "There were two parts to that day. First I got called into work to cover for a coworker who called out sick.
Secondly, yes it was pregnancy and infant loss memorial day so I did take the time to grieve my seven children who have died. It is also the anniversary of the day that we got our daughter Jana’s diagnosis of trisomy 18. It’s an emotional day for me".
Re Jamestown conflict of interest:
" I tried to remind [in my answers] that there is working together/partnership in providing care but separation/recusal in management decisions"
Thank you for sharing. My sincere condolences to Ann for her unimaginable losses. Honest question though. Why would she schedule the interview on this day in the first place only to cancel at the last minute, if this day is such a heavy and significant event for her personally? Surely she could see the impression that created.
She isn't a politician, so what it looked like didnt cross her mind. Hence my call to her after Jeff mentioned the cancellation in his piece one day and the negative perception it brought.. She's a leader and about caring for people. The call in to work probably shifted what time she had left. I will ask, but I expect that both affected the outcome based on the time spot Jeff had scheduled for her.
Well, it's comforting to know that OMC-CEO is running things based on PERSONAL GOALS and that the public has no idea of performance reviews...I mean...why would we want to know how it's going?
Oh, Yeah, we can see how it's going...Golden Parachutes while the system implodes!
How come ALL CEO's are paid such high salaries...I guarantee MOST aren't 'EARNING' those 'salaries'. They get 'paid' even when incompetent and we get to PAY-and-Watch while the whole thing goes to shit!
It always makes me nervous when people like Ms. Henninger have SO MANY important positions all being played at the same time...kind of like the kommissars...lot's of secrets and few real answers.
I don't think or feel the answers are very useful...there is nothing to be done to correct it, if the BIGGEST problem is that O'Bummer Care doesn't pay anywhere near actual costs, which are already astronomical...we have a co-dependent pharmacological SICK CARE system, not a Health-Care system...and the grift and graft is obvious to anyone who has been paying attention.
We also must consider the DEI hires...the personal competency of some 'workers'...I experienced the best and the worst in competency when I had surgery at the V.A. Hospital in Seattle...you never know what you're going to get...and 'Doctor Knows Best'...even when they don't. We need to self-advocate or have a trusted person do it for us!
The best thing anyone can do is not get sick enough to require 'care', but that is not always possible.
The medical system is just another symptom of 'empire-in-decline'.
Tom-ay-to, Tom-ah-to. It seems the day was not so important to figure into scheduling the interview, yet important enough to be used as an out to avoid real-time Q and A.
You know I try to be level headed and reasonable in my thoughts expressed on social media. I reached out to Ann Marie and asked to give another go at Jeff's Questions. She thought his offer was off the table after her cancelation. He graciously offered that it was not. Time constraints by then meant no podcast, but that she could still offer her responses to his questions in writing. So she did. I and a good friend of Ann Marie's reviewed them and offered our thoughts. Not Jamestown. The result are these honest answers you read in Jeff's article. Contemplated and offered without prejudice.
I have known her for 20 years. Seeing your response and Roberts frankly heartless one, I reached out to Ann Marie and asked her for her response, which I already knew, but wished for her words to be expressed for you and others who don't or won't understand.
"There were two parts to that day. First I got called into work to cover for a coworker who called out sick.
Secondly, yes it was pregnancy and infant loss memorial day so I did take the time to grieve my seven children who have died. It is also the anniversary of the day that we got our daughter Jana’s diagnosis of trisomy 18. It’s an emotional day for me"
I want a human who knows what care is about on our Board of hospital commissioners. Ann Marie is that person.
My response can be taken however you like. The point is, we don’t currently have time travel, so still ‘too little, too late’. Ballots have been cast, decisions have been made.
Election is tomorrow. If you voted for somebody who you found out a dark story today and he/she won by 1 vote!!!??.......yeah, in not cool with that. I drop my ballot off on election day. Personally prefer polling stations for this reason. Mail reserved only for those who are absent from their areas.
I've always heard you have to pay highly in order to get quality. Darryl Wolfe was CEO for five years, in which time his compensation increased by $71,000. Apparently the money isn't what really matters.
Jeff's questions were very good - excellent, actually - all relevent and exactly what I wanted to know. But, it was obvious that Ms. Henninger does not in any way, hold herself responsible for what HAS happened. Covid and its effects are to blame. And her last 2 statements, in answer to "what will be different this time" - "I am non-partisan.
I do not have an axe to grind or an agenda to impose." Makes me think that her responses are all smoke and mirrors. Same old, same old. And that is just one of the reasons I did not vote for her.
The other candidates not only appear partisan, they havw accepted endorsements from local democratic party and organized. If the responsibility is non partisan, why would thise running other than Henninger openly accept partisan supoort if they didnt intend to make decisions in a partisan manner?
correction: you don't actually solicit endorsements from anyone... they don't ask permissions. So, its not really up to the candidate and you can't control what other people do. FYI.
Fwiw, I never suggested solicitation. We decide, as consituents, how well our elected reps are representing us or intend to represent us far less by what they accept and far MORE by what they reject.
Not at all the point. A GOOD non-partisan candidate. A sincere non-partisan candidate REJECTS partisan endorsement. Makes the effort to say "thanks, but no thanks, this is a non-partisan role and I do not accept your endorsement" simple realy if they actually intend to BE non-partisan.
See, clearly you have NEVER run for public office around here. You can say "no thanks" all you want, but people will endorse who they want to endorse. I'm really serious about this. And, people will make snarky comments -- it's nothing any candidate can control.
You do realize the other "non-partisan" candidates not only accepted the Partisan endorsements, but boasted of them and included a mention in their campaign materials.
I do realize that. I find it abhorrent. But, there are no rules against it and...meanwhile our city council has ZERO ethics rules in their self-imposed rules and procedures. The county has unenforceable 'on the books only' rules. The state doesn't give a damn, and neither did the Charter Review (oh they talked a game, but I don't see anything on the ballot, and I sincerely doubt, as slow as they move that one will be on NEXT years ballot, either.)
Please read what I am writing and not more between the lines, since there isnt any. There is a clear differnce between offering endorsement and accepting it. There will always be endorsement. But in a NON-PARTISAN office NO Partisan endorsement should be accepted. Indeed, they should be publicly rejected to emphasize the NON-Partisan intent of the candidate. Simple realy. If it hurts endorsers feelings, thats actually a good thing.
Please read what my REAL EXPERIENCE has been: no one asks (neither the candidate nor the people posting endorsements). You don't accept.... you don't decline. (Period). It's up to the whim of whomever is making the recommendation. No one asks you -- you just show up on a list (and both parties have many lists) and then there are the people announcing who they are voting for on Facebook, and those who make outrageous statements on reddit. I think you aren't understanding exactly HOW dysfunctional hyper-local politics are.
The bigger thing to focus on is who gets what $$$ check out who recommends whom with the ridiculous donations: https://www.pdc.wa.gov/
Yes, seats are won and lost by single votes. But, given there is very little mechanism for people to be informed (newspaper behind a paywall, not many attend any candidate forums, very few forums) many people have no idea who or what is going on for the election. And, along those lines, few people show up to council meetings, board meetings, or anything else. How to get around apathy? No clue. It's a real issue.
Ms. Hanniger certainly seems competent, knowledgeable and informed. The nuances of health care profitability are many and most of us lack the hands on expertise to identify and cope with them. I am relegated to non-specific observations. The most important of those observations is either unpaid or insufficient pay for services. Why must any and all be provided health care services, regardless of ability to pay ? It is a more than important question to be publicly addressed. Compassion, empathy, caring, charity and the like are laudable, but they have a financial cost. That cost must be identified, outed and a specific plan to address it democratically established; be it inadequate or too generous. There is no free health care. Care for the indigent is simply born by the care providing institutions and the cost of care for all others. The second looming observation is the billing system employed in health care. As a generic example, I was involved in a recent back surgery performed in Seattle. The bill was a bit South of $ 300 K. That is then discounted by roughly 70% to honor some insurance contract, ( Medicare, medicaid, supplements, advantage plans and innumerable private insurance policies ), and the patient bill is $ 20.00. Was that $ 300 K a Christmas list or a real cost of services ? Why does insurance get a 70% discount where a cash customer would not ? If I chose to never pay any insurance premiums and banked that money, as my own health insurance, why must I pay 70% more for care than an insurance company ??? There is a complete absence of logic and transparency in the system that provides graft opportunity and in my observation it serves insurance companies that provide no/none/"0" health care services.
Very concerning non-answers in so many places - repeatedly suggesting the Board deserves no blame for the Hospital's problems. Very interesting suggestion since she's also claiming credit for being on the way to fixing the problems through hiring the new turnaround specialists.
I agree on your non-answer analysis. Still no answer to recording meetings. As of last week Department of Health violations were still not corrected. Touts walking the floor since August of this year, where was she the last six years? Leadership?
It's easy to 'step out in front' as a last minute gesture, especially when there is no accountability, transparency or real ethics oversight...one can sign all kinds of disclosures but if those disclosures are not made public and have no accountability in REALITY, it's all dog-and-pony shows!🥸
DOH violations have been corrected. Easy to find the public notice posted online.
Having a “one on one” in-person conversation with Jeff, and not running her answers by her legal constituents, that would have made her additionally trustworthy & potentially “honest”.
Whereas her long.. un-accountable *recusing, blaming & deflecting statements will continue to keep me cynical and sided.
PS.
The Hospitals are all failing in “Rural” areas across the Country..
I listened to Speaker Johnson this morning.
It’s much bigger than the simple brain would want to believe.
Empowering isn’t it?
Take back your own health.❤️
COVID, ILLEGALS, AFORDABLE CARE ACT.
yes.
& much much more…
i cant even believe my mind!💥💥
- then again..
now things are making sense as to *why and *how precision & push happen in county, state, country, Globally!
To be on the other side of the optics is some-what reassuring. 🙃🫤
And as for me, keeping my Faith in Jesus Christ.
Whew!
God Bless America & those that fight to protect us from Evil.
Not just America.. the world needs protection.
Jeffrey & Jake..
Protectors of Clallam County. YO
🫵🏻👊🏼🇺🇸 🇺🇸🙏🏼☝🏼
Interesting, I didnt read it like this at all. I read explanations for why and what the boards role is NOT when it comes to the hospitals operational management.
Who hires hospital management?
The public hospital district commission shall appoint a superintendent, who shall be appointed for an indefinite time and be removable at the will of the commission.
(1) The superintendent shall be the chief administrative officer of the public district hospital and shall have control of administrative functions of the district. The superintendent shall be responsible to the commission for the efficient administration of all affairs of the district.
(1) The public hospital district superintendent shall have the power, and duty:
(a) To carry out the orders of the commission, and to see that all the laws of the state pertaining to matters within the functions of the district are duly enforced.
(b) To keep the commission fully advised as to the financial condition and needs of the district.
The kommissars, whatever organization they are overseeing seem to be the key to the problems...and I mean the hospital kommissars. in this case...or any kommissar, in any organization.
How do we end up with these people? Not through transparency and accountability, that's obvious.😎
First off, Kommissars? Really? Pretty sure the Democratically elected Board members are not managing who says what to whom on behalf of the state...
Secondly, YOU. You voted for them...or didnt. YOU have one vote and 1 vote matrers in these elections. If you are not voting, you words are worth nothing.
You, as a cirizen, if you voted, have an obligation to monitor the job your elected representatives are doing. YOU can show up at meetings. You can speak. You can ask for records. YOU have access. Its all well and good to gripe about what you THINK but it is abundantly clear here, you dont KNOW and that? Is entirely up to YOU.
Yes, it’s up to me, attending meetings, writing emails, with no responses. Why do we hire people to handle running the hospital if we have to run it? Open public meeting act does not require transparency. Not publishing financials for most of year does not allow scrutiny by public. Your right it’s time to vote.
We elect. They run it. We scrutinize, they adjust. We are part of the mechanism of running the hospital since it is a public hospital. But we do not have a role if we are not engaged in it. Unanswered emails have to be escalated and/or show up and make it known. Even demanding a change to the system that emails must be answered inside a given time. In a society that does not defer all control of all social systems to the state, we can only have an impact on the things we decide to KEEP engaging with.
I would remind she was just made President this year. 6 others are on the Board.
I maximally agree!😎
Jeff thank you for this. A couple of points. I asked Ms. Henniger in a Next Door chat whether she supported giving subsidized healthcare to illegals; she never responded. Also, with her conflicts with JKT she has to recuse herself from many important decisions. Don’t we need a commissioner that can participate in those decisions? Lastly, I find this last minute response to questions interesting in its timing. It was nicely put together but I see no acceptance for past problems, only promises “to do better.” You can’t blame problems on the current fiscal climate, over which you have no control. People are seeking solutions.
Spot on..
Consistent “Recusing” cant keep the position free from Conflict!!
Recusing oneself is admirable, and I congratulate her on doing so. It's ethically proper.
What I can't discern is how much it reduces the effectiveness of her position if she can't weigh in on critical decisions.
Husband and Wife.
That’s a lot of recusing…🤔
Would love to be a fly on the wall in this HH.
😁
BINGO.
Many of us simply want more information before forming conclusions. That is why I spoke with roughly 20 current and former employees, attended multiple debates, and stayed after several Commissioner meetings to speak directly with most of the sitting Commissioners. After the pandemic surge, revenue rose sharply in 2021 and remained elevated in 2022. By early 2024, once the full-year 2023 results showed declining revenue and rising costs, I believe the Board should have pressed management more aggressively. I assume some discussions and actions were occurring internally, but building consensus on a seven-member board appears to have delayed decisive steps.
Several comments from Commissioners about Ann’s performance as the new Chair starting this year influenced my perspective. One noted she brought “greater organization and intensity,” and another stated, “I couldn't do as good a job as she has.” Those comments prompted me to reconsider my initial vote.
At the same time, I was stunned to learn that only 2 of 80 providers were meeting the 50th-percentile productivity benchmarks specified in their employment contracts. Providers receive monthly performance updates, yet prior leadership avoided enforcing expectations out of concern for turnover. The new candidates did not meaningfully address this issue, despite having direct knowledge, which concerned me.
Additional details on my research and reasoning are available on The Real Port Angeles Group on Facebook. Post election, I will continue to monitor productivity and financial indicators. I am finalizing historical data spreadsheets and plan to forecast through 2027. I am willing to share the worksheets with anyone interested.
I was impressed with the answers. I had to look up;
Disproportionate Share Hospitals serve low-income patients and receive payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to cover the costs of providing care to uninsured patients.
This explains to me a great deal. I would never have expected to fall below what is probably already a very low 8%. (Expecially in PA, a city that is definitional with 'low income'.)
It seems this and this alone really goes to the "millions".
I read a very intelligent person with good answers. I am certainly not an expert on the OMC so I leave it to another that is.
Someone with 'all the answers', which are no answers at all as far as making things better, seems suspicious to me...she's slick, that's for sure. A true 'professional' nurse!👩⚕️
Making things better? I don't see that... We are in a hole and it seems explained as to the $$$ at least to me...
It seems to me money is a big part of the problem. I know that's always the Dem answer to everything but in this case I think it is a contributing factor.
"We have a poor payer mix wherein 85% of our patients are covered by government insurance, which pays abysmally less than the cost of care provided."
I believe this...
But it has always been this way, even during the years when they were making money.
...AND getting millions in DSH %...
I WILL say $250 grand per year AND raises is obscene for a hospital in this condition.
I really do NOT care that a hospital administrator makes $1 mill elsewhere... Yeah Cedars Sinai... Hardly a comparison and I do not hear they are going broke.
You FIX the situation you get the money.
Other than that I have no reason to doubt her response.
I do take issue with defending the obscene salary in Port Angeles WITH annual raises. That's ridiculous.
And WHAT have the consultants done to date that has CHANGED the situation?
Still there is no answer to how to fix the money issue.
My suspicion is we, we CC taxpayers, are paying for drug addicts and 'migrant workers'.
Re your last line. I looked into this myself and indeed, there is no mechanism in a public hospital system to decide who is eligible for care based on economic status, immigration status etc. The intake system doesnt go there. So if there is necessary change to that effect, it is at the state level AND of course, locally re indigent population, at the municipal level.
I asked Ann Marie about that. Her response :
"That’s the law we are bound to as a public hospital district"
I don't deny the law or the moral obligation. I am beyond unhappy at the state of the country in terms of immigration and drug addiction that drives the impact on our hospitals.
Agreed. Same.
I appreciate Ann’s response to the questionnaire and thank her. I would have preferred a one on one interview, because many of the responses to the questions needed some follow up questioning to verify the accuracy of her statements: As in question # 1 and other statements made down the list.
Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Concerns. 1. Many people may not realize that you work for the Jamestown Tribe — a corporation that competes directly with OMC in several areas. That’s raised concerns about whether there’s a conflict of interest in serving on both sides of that relationship. How do you separate those roles and reassure voters that your loyalty is to OMC’s patients and taxpayers?
“I recuse myself from the vote. To date, there have been no conflicts re: Jamestown Tribe”
Dancing like a politician. Always reward failure and conflict of interesting. Nothing to watch here move along
"When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe."
--Frederic Bastiat, circa 1848
The problems are, who decides what is honorable and useful, and who decides what is progress? And what catastrophe are we learning lessons from?
What catastrophe are we NOT learning lessons from? The catastrophe of our current predicament, for starters. Our only hospital is publicly funded and stands of the brink of total collapse under the enormous weight of mismanaged finances, failing policies, and a complete lack of true leadership. How can any person enter a position of management when they must answer to two separate and competing "bosses"? Common sense would dictate that it's not useful (nor honorable) to place any person in such a conflicted position. This is not a judgement against Ann. It's a logical deduction. Recusing yourself from a vote defeats the purpose of being put in a position to vote. It certainly doesn't seem like "progress" to me.
This is true, I agree.
A real 'pro'!😎
What would a better reaponse look like? OMC has to partner with Jamestown to meet our regions care needs. Seems to me the only way to do that is recusal when Board relative discussions take place. Its arguable that ANY board member in our area could be seen as in conflict if they have any other role where income or profit somehow tied to care. Much easier to separate in a larger area, but in a small county, many here have dual roles in the healthcare world.
I do wish Jeff had explained at the outset of this article WHY she cancelled. It reads like it was avoidance, I do not believe it was.
She had to ponder dead baby day, or some such plus a couple other excuses and then only responds a couple days before 'selections'!🤪
they are competing bussinesses in essence.
Technically yes, but if they werent there, we would have issues with providing adequate care and thus, OMC wouls have to SPEND more....so rather they are partners in care and separatley managed is what I would view it as. Our area, our patient demographic and our type of hospital, IMO, would not be able to handle all the care needed in the county. What I see is some attempt at finding balance between them vs competing agaisnt each other.
Thank you @Jeff Tozzer for a great article that impacts us all.
I see again and again that people in leadership (especially Ozias, French and Johnson) accept and promote Mediocrity as the Norm!
They don't appear to aspire to be great, or even good, when compared to peers, peers groups or peers companies!
The Normalization of Mediocrity is a rabbit hole to ending in Socialism.
A lot of words, and none of them being answers to the questions that were submitted. A typical response from someone running for a “voted” position.
I had already voted ( I didn’t vote for her) and her submitting these so called answers only confirms my decision of not casting my vote for her.
Last year around this time we had a horrible experience with OMC involving our 96 year old mother after a medical emergency in her home. Transported to OMC and things went downhill from there. Admitted to hospital after hours in the ER. We were there with her the next two days but never got to talk to the "social worker" or a doctor, only the very kind nurses. Wednesday at 6:30 pm Mom called to say she had been released and was waiting for us to pick her up. We had had NO communication with the "social worker" or the doctor. Finally the "hospitalist" called us an hour or so later and said ok pick her up tomorrow. On the way to find out what was actually going on the "social worker" called asking when we would be there. When I questioned the lack of communication she go upset with me and HUNG UP ON ME. Long story short Mom had of course tested positive for "covid" and was required to go to a rehab facility. After hours of waiting and calling she was moved to the most horrendous dirty rehab in Port Angeles. Also she required 24/7 care and was stuck there for 10 days. Again just a horrible stressful situation that could have been totally been avoided had the social worker or maybe even a doctor informed us. This sweet lady had every brain cell she was born with and was sharp as a tack. But to OMC she was just an old lady they wanted to move out of that room. So sad that we were all put through that with our loved one. This might happen to you or your loved one.
This is such a tragedy! So very sorry for your family.
Thank you...I was never able to verbalize this to the hospital administrators. We had enough to deal with so today this helped to get our story out there. Just not a very caring place in our opinion.
God Bless you and your family.
I say kudo's to Ann for giving such detailed and thoughtful exlanations! As well as to Jeff for initiating this conversation. I just wish this had been printed sooner as many of us have likely voted. Keep up the good work....we need more like the both of you!
NOT a conversation... It's a written response...
A conversation can be in writing, which is known as dialogue.
Yeah OK... Technically a "dialogue", realistically in this case, favors the written response with no followup. In common use a dialogue is a conversation, not a written response. But good on you.
This is a pretty public forum. Election is tomorrow. Might as well ask your follow up question here. Still time for answers you might be looking for. No?
Written conversation, next to none, is incredibly pathetic in value when ideas and points are to be discussed and understood. I'd even go so far as to say that Commissioner Henninger may have done more damage to getting crucial points across.
Thank you Jeff Tozzer~!
I am not encouraged by the responses of Ann Henninger here, however if nothing else "we" now have her words on the public record as the community moves forward and that is at least somewhat useful. The bottom line is that Ann Henninger was on duty as our OMC experienced a terrible self-inflicted economic disaster, and I hope that the folks in Clallam County keep that firmly in mind as a hard & fast reality~! I do realize that there are a great many in our troubled society who STILL believe the blatant lies of the mainstream media and other nefarious bad actors, who keep pushing the same COVID deceptions and extremely dangerous "vaccines". So, I find it EXTREMELY troubling that anyone in the medical community would be so grossly incompetent and/or criminally inclined as to fail in the now widely easy to research established and well documented science that absolutely proves that the entire COVID agenda was planned for many years and orchestrated as the largest scale mass murder democide that has ever been conducted on earth~! This article gives me great concern about Ann Henninger's competence as a medical worker, because she "apparently" has absolutely no clue that she oversaw and actually administered the very crimes against humanity of the COVID agenda herself. Is she THAT incompetent as a scientist and medical worker, or is she just hoping to evade her own personal responsibility? I am very sad to say that either way, Ann Henninger has dramatically failed in her profession and her duties as an administrator. Sooner or later, someone is going to have to stand up and admit that the COVID and dangerous "mandates", especially the horrific "vaccines" were ALL part of a greater agenda to control, harm, and kill people, so until "we" (society) can get to that point it would be foolish to trust our local or national medical establishment. The truth is definitely our there about the COVID disaster, so at best these hospitals that made the decisions to go along with all of the criminal and unscientific "mandates" screwed themselves and everyone that they exist to serve~! I do NOT accept that the COVID disaster created ALL of the financial problems within the medical community, and I resent the claims that it did, because poor management cannot be allowed to get off of the hook that easily~!
Sincerely, Mike
She's a nurse, not a scientist.
Yes, I understand what you are saying, but that really is my greater point~!
How many people who are employed in the Medical Industrial Complex are truly in it because they are in it for the scientific value, the science, with dedicated scientific minds~? Their job title is irrelevant~! This is exactly why and how the COVID mass murder democide was SO effective, because "we" have allowed WAY too many "hacks" who got into the field for the money and NOT for the science~? That goes for ALL field in the Medical Industrial Complex by the way, the technologists, the nurses, the doctors, and ironically the people who are actually paid as scientists themselves~! Ha! How many technologists, nurses, doctors and especially so-called "scientists" were either too ignorant and flat-out stupid who themselves fell for the very obviously fake science of COVID and ALL of the phony and themselves dangerous "mandates", including but in no way limited to the now proven dangerous and deadly vaccines? Hummmmm??? They were clearly NOT in the field for the science with well-trained scientific minds. This is abundantly clear by the fact that many of them have already killed themselves with the deadly COVID vaccines, so they did a LOT of harm to others AND ended up killing themselves just because they utterly failed as scientists. I don't know about you, and you are of course welcome to your own opinion, but I don't want ANY "help" from anyone in the medical field who is not a trained scientist in the general field of medicine and whatever specialty that they happen to be in. A GREAT example is my wife, who is demonstrably one of the best of the best vascular ultrasound technologists in the world~! For people who are ignorant of what vascular ultrasound folks do, they are the ONLY ones who actually identify and locate blood clots, and my wife was right on the front lines in early 2021 when the criminal Biden cabal released the deadly COVID vaccines and immediately proceeded to unconstitutionally "mandate" that everyone got the "clot shot"~! Yes, she is technically as good as it gets in her field, however what actually makes her one of the best of the best is that she is a VERY dedicated well-trained scientist with an excellent "scientific mindset"! Her choice in men is another matter! Ha Ha Ha! Anyway, almost 4 years ago my wife was viciously attacked, fired from her job, had her excellent reputation attacked, and threatened with criminal prosecution JUST because she was honestly answering her terrified patients' questions about their own vascular ultrasound tests~! So, my wife is ultimately one of the best because she puts her patient's health and wellbeing first and foremost~! Even though doing so has cost her well over $500,000.00 to date~! Do you know anyone currently in the medical field who has THAT kind of honor? HA~! Thousands of the best in the medical field got out when they saw what was really happening, so what kind of people do you think are in the medical field today??? Hummmm??? Now you are more than welcome to have all of the nurses, doctors, and so-called "scientists" that you want who are NOT in the field for the science, who don't have any personal or professional honor * integrity, and who will be happy to stick needles in you with dangerous things that they really know nothing about for their paycheck, but any sane individual would ONLY want medical workers who were REAL scientists! Did you know that medical malpractice has actually been one of the top three leading reasons of death in the US for decades now? Do you think that any old nurse is qualified to run an entire medical community, if he/she is NOT a truly dedicated scientist? Could that have anything to do with the financial and medical failures of the OMC? Ya think? Ha! Oh, and as a side note, "we" (American Patriots) are in fact fully aware that a number of doctors who are still working in the OMC not only refused to take the COVID vaccines themselves, but they told their nurses that they would be immediately fired if they told their patients the truth about those deadly vaccines. Many of these criminals who pose as "legitimate doctors" have already admitted that they NEVER take ANY vaccines whatsoever~! How do you like that? Not to worry though, because those doctors are already scheduled for Nuremberg style US Military Tribunals for their crimes against humanity, but many of them don't even know it (yet ;-) Sometimes I like surprises, don't you~??? HA~! Have a great day and keep the faith because this is the largest scale criminal "sting operation" the earth has ever known and in due time everyone on the planet will be aware of it and more than happy that the new medical system that focuses on the patient's well-being first has already been born~! Enjoy~!
Sincerely, Mike
It would have been nice to have a one-on-one conversation with her. Get her true reaction to the questions instead of long form written answers. Off the cuff in person gives more validity to me as we can tell by reaction and emotion. It is nice to get written answers but not without real time follow up questions. Thanks CCWD
Yes, this. Imagine choosing others with so much power and money behind them on written answers alone! Yes, she's out campaigning and hobknobbing, but that is not sufficient.
So much power and money behind them? You mean the other candidates that are endorsed by a Political party and who have accepted and promoted that emdosrement?
I have one question for Ann. Just one. How many tribe members were consulted in the preparation of these answers? Seems that would be a conflict of interest. At least we know now why she recused herself from the interview. I would need more time to prepare answers too, if I were in such a conflicted position.
Zero. ZERO Tribe members. She consulted me and a good friend of hers. I had reached out to her after she had to cancel the interview with Jeff and I asked Jeff if she could still respond. He offered yes. Time for a one on one has passed. So she wrote her responses. I looked them over along with the friend. Yeah, small town real life.
Here are her responses to these sorts of questions which I shared with her today and asked for her responses:
Re Cancelling the interview: "There were two parts to that day. First I got called into work to cover for a coworker who called out sick.
Secondly, yes it was pregnancy and infant loss memorial day so I did take the time to grieve my seven children who have died. It is also the anniversary of the day that we got our daughter Jana’s diagnosis of trisomy 18. It’s an emotional day for me".
Re Jamestown conflict of interest:
" I tried to remind [in my answers] that there is working together/partnership in providing care but separation/recusal in management decisions"
Thank you for sharing. My sincere condolences to Ann for her unimaginable losses. Honest question though. Why would she schedule the interview on this day in the first place only to cancel at the last minute, if this day is such a heavy and significant event for her personally? Surely she could see the impression that created.
She isn't a politician, so what it looked like didnt cross her mind. Hence my call to her after Jeff mentioned the cancellation in his piece one day and the negative perception it brought.. She's a leader and about caring for people. The call in to work probably shifted what time she had left. I will ask, but I expect that both affected the outcome based on the time spot Jeff had scheduled for her.
Well, it's comforting to know that OMC-CEO is running things based on PERSONAL GOALS and that the public has no idea of performance reviews...I mean...why would we want to know how it's going?
Oh, Yeah, we can see how it's going...Golden Parachutes while the system implodes!
How come ALL CEO's are paid such high salaries...I guarantee MOST aren't 'EARNING' those 'salaries'. They get 'paid' even when incompetent and we get to PAY-and-Watch while the whole thing goes to shit!
It always makes me nervous when people like Ms. Henninger have SO MANY important positions all being played at the same time...kind of like the kommissars...lot's of secrets and few real answers.
I don't think or feel the answers are very useful...there is nothing to be done to correct it, if the BIGGEST problem is that O'Bummer Care doesn't pay anywhere near actual costs, which are already astronomical...we have a co-dependent pharmacological SICK CARE system, not a Health-Care system...and the grift and graft is obvious to anyone who has been paying attention.
We also must consider the DEI hires...the personal competency of some 'workers'...I experienced the best and the worst in competency when I had surgery at the V.A. Hospital in Seattle...you never know what you're going to get...and 'Doctor Knows Best'...even when they don't. We need to self-advocate or have a trusted person do it for us!
The best thing anyone can do is not get sick enough to require 'care', but that is not always possible.
The medical system is just another symptom of 'empire-in-decline'.
Stay well and enjoy the drama!🎭
It’s a shame this is ‘too little, too late’. Hopefully next election year infant mortality remembrance day will not pose such a conflict.
For what its worth, its called "Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance day" I would suggest it means far more than remembering a statistical metric.
Tom-ay-to, Tom-ah-to. It seems the day was not so important to figure into scheduling the interview, yet important enough to be used as an out to avoid real-time Q and A.
You know I try to be level headed and reasonable in my thoughts expressed on social media. I reached out to Ann Marie and asked to give another go at Jeff's Questions. She thought his offer was off the table after her cancelation. He graciously offered that it was not. Time constraints by then meant no podcast, but that she could still offer her responses to his questions in writing. So she did. I and a good friend of Ann Marie's reviewed them and offered our thoughts. Not Jamestown. The result are these honest answers you read in Jeff's article. Contemplated and offered without prejudice.
I have known her for 20 years. Seeing your response and Roberts frankly heartless one, I reached out to Ann Marie and asked her for her response, which I already knew, but wished for her words to be expressed for you and others who don't or won't understand.
"There were two parts to that day. First I got called into work to cover for a coworker who called out sick.
Secondly, yes it was pregnancy and infant loss memorial day so I did take the time to grieve my seven children who have died. It is also the anniversary of the day that we got our daughter Jana’s diagnosis of trisomy 18. It’s an emotional day for me"
I want a human who knows what care is about on our Board of hospital commissioners. Ann Marie is that person.
My response can be taken however you like. The point is, we don’t currently have time travel, so still ‘too little, too late’. Ballots have been cast, decisions have been made.
Election is tomorrow. If you voted for somebody who you found out a dark story today and he/she won by 1 vote!!!??.......yeah, in not cool with that. I drop my ballot off on election day. Personally prefer polling stations for this reason. Mail reserved only for those who are absent from their areas.
yes, this is one of the many things wrong with mail-in voting. I don't like it either. It was still too little too late as Eve So states.
So many 'socialist special days'
We need more grief pay for the poor administrators!
Coddle, coddle, coddle!
When you 'over-coddle' an egg, it falls apart!🤓
I've always heard you have to pay highly in order to get quality. Darryl Wolfe was CEO for five years, in which time his compensation increased by $71,000. Apparently the money isn't what really matters.
What a sad response.
Jeff's questions were very good - excellent, actually - all relevent and exactly what I wanted to know. But, it was obvious that Ms. Henninger does not in any way, hold herself responsible for what HAS happened. Covid and its effects are to blame. And her last 2 statements, in answer to "what will be different this time" - "I am non-partisan.
I do not have an axe to grind or an agenda to impose." Makes me think that her responses are all smoke and mirrors. Same old, same old. And that is just one of the reasons I did not vote for her.
The other candidates not only appear partisan, they havw accepted endorsements from local democratic party and organized. If the responsibility is non partisan, why would thise running other than Henninger openly accept partisan supoort if they didnt intend to make decisions in a partisan manner?
correction: you don't actually solicit endorsements from anyone... they don't ask permissions. So, its not really up to the candidate and you can't control what other people do. FYI.
Fwiw, I never suggested solicitation. We decide, as consituents, how well our elected reps are representing us or intend to represent us far less by what they accept and far MORE by what they reject.
Not at all the point. A GOOD non-partisan candidate. A sincere non-partisan candidate REJECTS partisan endorsement. Makes the effort to say "thanks, but no thanks, this is a non-partisan role and I do not accept your endorsement" simple realy if they actually intend to BE non-partisan.
See, clearly you have NEVER run for public office around here. You can say "no thanks" all you want, but people will endorse who they want to endorse. I'm really serious about this. And, people will make snarky comments -- it's nothing any candidate can control.
You do realize the other "non-partisan" candidates not only accepted the Partisan endorsements, but boasted of them and included a mention in their campaign materials.
I do realize that. I find it abhorrent. But, there are no rules against it and...meanwhile our city council has ZERO ethics rules in their self-imposed rules and procedures. The county has unenforceable 'on the books only' rules. The state doesn't give a damn, and neither did the Charter Review (oh they talked a game, but I don't see anything on the ballot, and I sincerely doubt, as slow as they move that one will be on NEXT years ballot, either.)
Please read what I am writing and not more between the lines, since there isnt any. There is a clear differnce between offering endorsement and accepting it. There will always be endorsement. But in a NON-PARTISAN office NO Partisan endorsement should be accepted. Indeed, they should be publicly rejected to emphasize the NON-Partisan intent of the candidate. Simple realy. If it hurts endorsers feelings, thats actually a good thing.
Please read what my REAL EXPERIENCE has been: no one asks (neither the candidate nor the people posting endorsements). You don't accept.... you don't decline. (Period). It's up to the whim of whomever is making the recommendation. No one asks you -- you just show up on a list (and both parties have many lists) and then there are the people announcing who they are voting for on Facebook, and those who make outrageous statements on reddit. I think you aren't understanding exactly HOW dysfunctional hyper-local politics are.
The bigger thing to focus on is who gets what $$$ check out who recommends whom with the ridiculous donations: https://www.pdc.wa.gov/
This may be true. I didn't vote for anyone.
Your purview of course. Just remember that Boards, commissioner seats and city council seats are regularly won and lost by Single vote differences.
Yes, seats are won and lost by single votes. But, given there is very little mechanism for people to be informed (newspaper behind a paywall, not many attend any candidate forums, very few forums) many people have no idea who or what is going on for the election. And, along those lines, few people show up to council meetings, board meetings, or anything else. How to get around apathy? No clue. It's a real issue.
Ms. Hanniger certainly seems competent, knowledgeable and informed. The nuances of health care profitability are many and most of us lack the hands on expertise to identify and cope with them. I am relegated to non-specific observations. The most important of those observations is either unpaid or insufficient pay for services. Why must any and all be provided health care services, regardless of ability to pay ? It is a more than important question to be publicly addressed. Compassion, empathy, caring, charity and the like are laudable, but they have a financial cost. That cost must be identified, outed and a specific plan to address it democratically established; be it inadequate or too generous. There is no free health care. Care for the indigent is simply born by the care providing institutions and the cost of care for all others. The second looming observation is the billing system employed in health care. As a generic example, I was involved in a recent back surgery performed in Seattle. The bill was a bit South of $ 300 K. That is then discounted by roughly 70% to honor some insurance contract, ( Medicare, medicaid, supplements, advantage plans and innumerable private insurance policies ), and the patient bill is $ 20.00. Was that $ 300 K a Christmas list or a real cost of services ? Why does insurance get a 70% discount where a cash customer would not ? If I chose to never pay any insurance premiums and banked that money, as my own health insurance, why must I pay 70% more for care than an insurance company ??? There is a complete absence of logic and transparency in the system that provides graft opportunity and in my observation it serves insurance companies that provide no/none/"0" health care services.