These are Difficult Times for Sonoma Valley Hospital

By Robert H. "Bob" Aicher

Affiliation is our best hope for keeping Sonoma Valley's only hospital and emergency room open.

I ask for your vote to continue representing you on the Sonoma Valley Hospital District Board of Directors. The District covers the entire Sonoma Valley, not just the City of Sonoma, so your vote is important.

I am currently a Director of both the Sonoma Valley Hospital and Sonoma Valley Community Health Center and Secretary of the Hospital-Medical Staff Joint Conference Committee. I also serve on the Sonoma Valley Hospital Strategic Planning Advisory Council and Public Information Committee which support the affiliation process with Sutter Health.

I receive no compensation for this work.

These are difficult times for Sonoma Valley Hospital. Payments for hospital services have fallen dramatically the past few years, both from Medicare and private health plans, and Sonoma Valley Hospital is not supported by tax dollars. Affiliation will link us with a larger health system that can afford to build a new hospital that will meet the building codes now required since the Northridge earthquake, and keep emergency and women's health services available in the Sonoma Valley.

Affiliation is our best hope for keeping Sonoma Valley's only hospital and emergency room open.

Yet affiliation is a challenging process requiring the tireless effort of dedicated community volunteers. I am one of those with the necessary skills. By profession, I am an attorney working with physicians for over ten years. By temperament, I am a negotiator always seeking solutions.

The working knowledge and experience I have gained as a member of your Board has prepared me for the task of shepherding the affiliation process home. I would appreciate your vote November 7th.