Why I'm Running for the Palm Drive District Board

By Jim Horn

I'm working hard to reopen the hospital in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner, expand services to our River and coastal areas, and get us out of bankruptcy.

Just three months later, I was appointed to fill a vacancy in the District Board. I've been working hard ever since on four basic priorities:

• Reopen Palm Drive Hospital if it can be done in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner. If it can't, then restore radiology, laboratory, outpatient surgery and urgent care services to benefit as many District residents as possible.

• Expand health care services in our underserved River and coastal communities. For too long, folks living farthest from Palm Drive Hospital have received the least in return for their taxes. That needs to change.

• Get the Palm Drive District out of bankruptcy and, if at all possible, pay our former employees 100% of what they're owed.

• Provide strong and active board oversight of the District's finances and operations.

As a young Caltech graduate, I started my own engineering company 28 years ago. During my career I've been president of a 14-person firm and managing partner of a 20-person company. I'm intimately familiar with owning and managing a successful business.

Over the years, I've helped design projects at many local hospitals. I understand the complex and demanding regulations that even small hospitals like Palm Drive must follow.

I've also served on the Gravenstein school board for the last twelve years, including seven years as board president. During that time, our enrollment increased more than 40% and our finances and reserves improved dramatically. I'm skilled at overseeing a successful public district, asking tough questions, and working as a team to turn a struggling district into a thriving one.

Finally, I've been blessed with my wonderful wife of 38 years, Susan, a registered nurse in California for more than three decades. Through her, I've developed a good layman's knowledge of how Palm Drive actually worked and how our dedicated employees helped earn national recognition for patient safety.

Can the Hospital be reopened responsibly and sustainably? I don't know yet. I believe the Proposal being developed by the Palm Drive Health Care Foundation is our best shot at that goal, but the jury is still out. I hope it does, but many crucial questions remain about finances, facilities, licensing, Medicare reimbursement and electronic medical records, among others. Some of these questions are posted on the District website (http://www.palmdrivehospital.org)

But it's a daunting task. According to state records he Hospital suffered over $60 million in operating losses in the last 13 years, and the District is in bankruptcy for the second time. The building is 40 years old and needs millions of dollars of repairs and upgrades.

Some say that if I don't commit immediately and without reservation to the Foundation's plan, even if incomplete, then I must be against reopening the Hospital. That makes no sense. My job as a District Director is to use my best judgment and experience to help provide the best health care services we can sustainably afford. A key part of my job is to question--to poke and prod at financial reports, business plans and bankruptcy strategies, whether from the Foundation or the District administration.

More than ever, we need independent Directors with a healthy skepticism and the experience and ability to ask questions and make tough decisions. I believe I'm the best candidate for this crucial job, and I would appreciate your vote on November 4.