League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Wesley F. "Wes" Alles Answers Questions Candidate for Director; El Camino Hospital District

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What experience or training do you have which would help the District meet its goals?

Operating the District and Hospital is extremely complex with regard to applicable laws, certifications, mandates, and policies. Having ten years of leadership and governance experience I am knowledgeable about all aspects of both District and Hospital operations. I helped to create the strategic plan that will guide the hospital for the next three to five years. I am fully compliant with the fiduciary responsibilities of a Board member and fully compliant with the requirements of the Brown Act, HIPAA, Form 700 reporting, and with hospital and District policies and procedures.

The District Board recently appointed more than twenty hospital Board committee members and three new hospital Board members. These individuals are extremely well qualified, however, they need mentoring as they become familiar with significant issues that impact the hospital. I have been the Board Chair as well as the Chair for four Board committees. In addition, the changes brought about by health care reform will require broad knowledge as the hospital seeks to respond intelligently to new regulations.

Serving on the Board of a not-for-profit organization is complicated. Serving on the Board of a hospital is even more complicated. Serving on the Board of a Special District Hospital that seeks to retain its independence and community ownership is exceptionally complicated. In addition, health care is very competitive, and as with any business enterprise, informed decisions lead to greater success. I have served the Board for a decade and have a strong record of having made strategic and tactical decisions that enable El Camino Hospital to provide the highest quality of care for residents of our community.

My educational background plus more than 35 years of experience in public health and health care are important aspects of my contributions to the community. I understand the competitive business environment, the regulatory requirements, and the financial elements that are required to govern a hospital. I want to continue to serve the community through stewardship of this brilliant community asset.

2. What is your evaluation of the financial condition of the District?

For more than 50 years El Camino Hospital has had a strong reputation for both quality of care and effective financial management. We live in affluent communities and our finances remain exceptionally strong. We have strong revenues and we continuously manage the costs so that our bottom line is healthy. When I first came onto the Board, El Camino Hospital was a nearly fifty year old building. In addition, California had mandated that all hospitals must be compliant with current seismic standards. This was an unfunded mandate, meaning that the nearly half billion dollars that would be necessary to build a new hospital would require that a bond measure be approved by voters of the District. Community residents DID approve this bond and the approval was with nearly 70% voting "yes". Because of the very strong financial rating of the hospital by the bond rating agencies, the interest rate on these funds was at a very favorable percent of interest. The community continues to support the hospital because it appreciates being able to receive the highest quality of health care possible while at the same time knowing that both the District and Hospital Boards demonstrate fiscal responsibility by consistently making good decisions.

Over the past ten years that I have been a member of the Board of Directors, the hospital has had some of its best financial production. In addition, I was the Chair of the Finance Committee during the final stages of the completion of the new hospital. Because of strong financial management by the Board and the Executive team, the building was finished on-time and on budget. Our community now has a hospital that has been referred to as the "most technologically advanced hospital in the world."

In addition to the building itself, the Board also supports quality of care through significant investments in medical equipment and information technology. El Camino Hospital has the finest medical, surgical, and information technology that is available, thereby enabling residents to receive the very best health care possible, right here in our community. Very few medical cases require a higher level of care than what is delivered by El Camino. Strong fiscal management enables the hospital to purchase top of the line diagnostic and treatment equipment. This kind of equipment attracts highly skilled physicians who want to work with state of the art tools.

Your El Camino Hospital is well governed, well led, and well managed. It has a strategic plan that requires a significant amount of financial expenditures. It is the job of the Board to assure that these funds are available to achieve the goals of the strategic plan, as well as the vision and mission of the hospital.

3. In what ways would you collaborate with other governmental entities and community groups to achieve the District's goals?

I will continue to support collaboration because health care is expensive and we need to take advantage of the efficiencies that come from collaboration. During my tenure on the Board we have had to make many decisions related to cooperative agreements, business associate relationships, not-for-profit community benefit organizations, affiliations with health care organizations, and support for physicians and medical groups. We have sought to develop and sustain good relationships with all of our employees, those who are represented and those who are not.

Over the past two years the Board has cooperated with the Civil Grand Jury and the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo). When we built the new hospital our approvals were given by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) conducts periodic on-site surveys to verify that "an accredited organization substantially complies with Joint Commission standards and continuously makes efforts to improve the care and services it provides."

In a new health care paradigm, we will see new partnerships form- partnerships borne of economic and regulatory necessity. This is referred to as a Continuum of Care Organization where hospitals, wellness providers, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient surgery centers and dialysis services, as well as hospice will need to collaborate in order to remain in compliance with best practices, regulatory and statutory compliance, and financial accountability. The Board of Directors of both the District and the Hospital strongly support cooperation and collaboration. As an individual Board member I strongly support both of these principles.

An excellent example of this principle is the community benefit program at El Camino Hospital. The Board has mandated that when the ad valorem tax dollars are received by the District, and after we satisfy the Gann requirement that money be put toward the maintenance of our hospital, that EVERY dollar of the remaining tax money be spent on community benefit. Not considering the tax money coming specifically to support the bonds, the El Camino Hospital District receives approximately $9 million dollars. Of this amount, every dollar is designated to be put into community benefit. In this regard, the Board asks the hospital administration and a community advisory committee composed of volunteers to create a request for proposals, to receive grant applications, to review and assign funds, to continuously monitor progress, and to review the evaluation metrics that are required of all community organizations that receive funds from the District.

I also want to mention that individually, Board members are required to meet the standards of transparency described within the Brown Act and to assure appropriate policies such that HIPAA protections remain strong, thereby ensuring the privacy of our patients and their family.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Please answer each question in no more than 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 19, 2012 08:03
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