Can someone please explain the difference between the two boards? The article says that he was elected to both boards but I think we only vote for one baord.

Hey there, "Huh?" This is Nick Veronin. I wrote the article. I agree with you. It is confusing. Here's how it works: The district board is publicly elected. District board members appoint the hospital board members. As far as I can tell right now, I'm guessing they appoint themselves.

My editor and I found this interesting and chances are there will be a followup story on it. Stay tuned!

I have attended many board meetings in person as well as watched many video taped sessions online. Mr. Kladde, rarely, if ever speaks, providing little to no evidence of critical thinking nor constructive feedback in his comments or questions in open sessions. If he is asked to report on meetings he attended he rarely has a comment other than to say it was a good meeting or to say that he enjoyed it. There has got to be a better system to ensure adequate representation of community interests and insure appropriate qualifications of board members. The blurring of boundaries between these two boards needs to be addressed, as does the general transparency of their decision making. Can anyone reading their published meeting agendas decipher the cryptic language to understand what issues are being discussed? Lets hope the new members they bring on board create a much needed culture of competency, transparency and accountability.

About time! The board is a joke, just look at how many were actaully elected by the public. There is a huge lack of relevant experience yet the power they yield over the operation of the hospital seems to know no bounds. What exatcly are they acountable for? The firing of the last CEO is a perfect example of how these boards operate.....We still dont know why we had to eat a million dollars+ of penalties to make the executive change! Seems to me there should have been some darn good documented reasons if your gonna have to pony up that kind of cash.. We are surrounded by very smart business people in the area who have invested interests in excellant health care in their area.....yet look at the calibur of what we have, its a joke. Dont let the door hit you on the way out Mr Kladde! Thanks for nothing!