League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Alameda County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Board Member; Washington Township Health Care District

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark, Union City and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Governance Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What could be done to make the governance of the hospital more transparent for its constituents? Answer from William F. Nicholson: In order to make governance of the hospital as transparent as possible, we currently televise Board meetings and have created the in health cable Channel 78 service to brings important health information into our resident's homes. I will work to continue open leadership as long as your votes return me to the Washington Hospital Board of Directors. Answer from Evelyn E Li: 1. Shorten emergency room waiting time. 2. Improve orthopedic coverage in the emergency room. 3. Improve nursing working condition, Enhance the Quality of Care of More Patients & Unnecessary High Administrative Salaries. 4. Set up a Systems of Accountability to Ensure that there is NO Corruption or Bribery. 5. Strengthen Language Programs to Facilitate Better Patient-doctor Communications. 6. Foster more Harmonious Working Relationships between Doctors and the Administration. 7. Provide more Benefits to Patients by Advocating for Enhanced Care of Local Residents. Answer from Ravi Johal: 1. As a community hospital, with the exception of meetings to discuss legal and personnel issues, all meetings should be open to public. 2. All meeting agenda to be published in advance with ability for the community to request additional topics for discussion. The Board should be required to respond to "Oral Communications" at board meetings as appropriate. 3. As a taxpayer funded entity, all financial transactions including contracts with businesses, individuals and affiliates should be disclosed on a quarterly basis. 4. It is important that patients have a clear insight into medical expenses. Patients should receive an estimate of expenses at the time of admission and also receive a clear indication of what to expect as a final bill when a patient is discharged from the hospital. 5. In view of recent adverse events and adverse publicity, the onus is upon the Board to ensure that the "peer review" of Physicians, a process used as a vehicle to ensure quality care is enhanced to become a truly "objective peer review process". This can be accomplished by using a common peer review process with the other hospitals/medical institutions in the area including Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Kaiser Permanente. This will result in an objective process. 6. Require a full disclosure of adverse events in a timely manner. Proactive communications is the best approach to managing adverse situations. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.