Friday (03/28/2014,) I led my last meeting as Board Chair of Western Missouri Medical Center. I have been the Chair of the Board for the last two years and a Trustee for the last four years, with one more year left of my five year term! Being the Chair of the Board and a Trustee has been very gratifying and disappointing at the same time. But, I still enjoy volunteering my time to serve the citizens of Johnson County and to help to improve the quality of the health care services provided by the Medical Center! The gratification comes from; • Knowing that the decisions of the Board over the last four years have moved the Medical Center forward, to the benefit of the citizens of Johnson County. • That we completed the new Patient Tower project. • That the Innes I building was reacquired and refurbished for use by the Medical Center • That we have a new CEO/President (Susan Stiles) that has immersed herself in the community, and has greatly improved communication with the community. • That we approved and began construction of a new Medical Office Building, to provide additional services needed in Johnson County. • Helping the Medical Center celebrate its 50th Anniversary! • That the Board meetings (open and closed) are more timely and effective in governance and following Missouri Sunshine Laws. • That the Trustees have the opportunity to attend the Missouri Hospital Associations conferences, to learn about governance and what affects the future of all Missouri hospitals! • Receiving recognition from the Missouri Hospital Association with the “Excellence in Governance” award! • That all of our decisions as Board Trustees have been made to benefit the citizens of Johnson County! The disappointment comes from; • A County Commission that does not show any support for the Medical Center, but rather attempts to control it from the County Courthouse! • A County Commission that has a standard for itself, that can appoint Trustees with family members that are employed at the Medical Center and a standard for current and future Trustees (myself included) that says if we have a family member employed at the Medical center, we are giving the perception of or involved in acts of improprieties! • A County Commission that accuses us (the Board,) of diving into decisions and building a 3 story MOB instead of spreading 43,000 square feet out on 1 floor and taking up most of our badly needed parking. Even though we (the Board) spent 2 ½ years researching the project and looking at multiple locations on our campus to locate it, so we did not have to buy more property (that would come off of the tax rolls!) • A Presiding Commissioner that continues (outside of Missouri Statute and to the demise of the Medical Center) to search for a buyer for the Medical Center. (This is not supposed to be done prior to the Board voting on a resolution that it would “Be in the best interest of the County” to do so and then presenting this resolution to the County Clerk, which has not occurred! This action is very counterproductive to the Medical Center moving forward!) • And lastly, that our local newspaper choses sides instead of publishing good journalism and avoids asking the proper journalistic questions (like, why is the County Commission squandering County funds, to discuss Medical Center Bylaws that do not apply to them and when are they going to refund those wasted monies?) I am a proud citizen of Johnson County and thankful that the Lord has allowed me to give back by volunteering my time to such a great cause! We live in such a comfortable community with connections of friends and family throughout the schools, community events, UCM, the Medical Center and local businesses. Our local government is one of the best and most of the media outlets do a great job! I still look forward to my last year as a Board Trustee for the Medical Center and if I did it all over again, I would not change a thing!
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 01:52:24 +0000