Tag Archives: Hospital District

Discovery of Hospital District Board Position Openings—Almost by Accident

Dear friends;
You may or may not have heard that there is an election coming up at the local Hospital District (Clinic). Almost by accident, some in our group found out about it.
In the past, we, the general public, were not usually privy to such information. The Board of Directors were merely and routinely appointed and confirmed with the barest minimum of information to the citizenry. It is because of this lack of transparency that the clinic continued to operate at what many feel was, and continues to be, subpar performance. Despite a total tax payer mil levy contribution of around $850,000 A YEAR, the clinic continues its sub par performance especially with respect of having doctors on staff. In fact, there are again, currently no medical doctors on staff at the clinic. In the coming months we have a golden opportunity to change that status quo. We can take back the management of our clinic and turn it into a healthcare service that can benefit each and every one of the county residents. Continue reading Discovery of Hospital District Board Position Openings—Almost by Accident

Candidate for Clinic Board Mike Haga Speaks about the Past and the Present

Redemption From a 37-Year-Old Error

by George Gramlich
Last week a concerned citizen sent the Sentinel (and apparently others in the area) a reference to a United States District Court (Denver) case from 1990. It was an appeal by the plaintiff to have his 1981 felony conviction of federal bank fraud be overturned due to the fact that at the time of the crime and sentencing, the plaintiff/defendant was mentally incompetent. The court rejected the request.
That plaintiff/defendant was Mike Haga, Custer County native and local high school graduate, is a candidate for the May 8th election for the West Custer County Hospital District Board.
His is a story of success after failure. A story of how mental and physical illness can be conquered and controlled. A story of determination to succeed. A story of how God can provide a path to fulfillment. Continue reading Candidate for Clinic Board Mike Haga Speaks about the Past and the Present

“Patients First” Reform Slate Running for Clinic Board

by George Gramlich
The troubled West Custer County Hospital District (aka “Clinic”) is having an unusual election come May 8th: All five Board of Directors positions are up for election. The five current Board members, Bob Tobin, Ann Evans, Janny Candelaria, Bob Weisenbach and Katherine Ripley-Williams have all indicated that they are running for re-election.
In an interesting twist, a group of local citizens concerned with the chronically poor performance of the Clinic and the never-ending management issues have banded together to form a reform slate and are running a team of five new candidates for the Board, dubbed the “Patients First” team.

The Patients First Team consists of Mike Haga, Mike Kienbusch,
David Brothers, Ann Barthrop and Larry Luikart. Their intent is to change the orientation of the Clinic’s efforts to a “Patients First” priority with a reform platform (noted below). Continue reading “Patients First” Reform Slate Running for Clinic Board