Dr. Fung's comments were especially baffling. At one point he argued that the 5 board members were very qualified to oversee the operations and then he said that they needed help from others.

The majority thinks that the help they need requires voting rights on the hospital board rather than having experts serve as advisors to the elected board.

Who represents Mountain View on this board? Reeder? He's out.

I think it's so sad, that the entire health care system, is no longer about patients but about PROFIT!! The insurance industry is the biggest culprit with their big paying lobbyists, and they do their jobs, pay less, get MORE money. I have grown up and still live in Mountain View and have always loved it, to ruin this wonderful hospital is not right.

It's very simple. If the hospital is to be controlled by appointees who aren't beholden to the taxpayers, let's amend the tax structure so that the hospital is no longer supported by taxpayers. It's a no-brainer. The El Camino Health Care District needs to know they can't have their cake and eat it too. Either take the hospital private and pay for it yourself, or take taxpayer money and leave the control with the taxpayers.

This is a sad day for the voters and taxpayers of Mountain View and surrounding cities. The three El Camino Hospital directors who voted for this change should be voted out of office.

The hospital district is out of control and is soaking the tax payers. No voting member should be unelected, the salaries of the operating managers should be reduced, the out of district hospitals should be sold. Serious reform and house cleaning to restore control to the taxpayers. We need a measure on the ballot in the next election to make this happen, the highly paid administration will scheme against this action but let's get started now!

The only thing I got to remember this hospital by is a dose of c-dif that took 3 weeks to get rid of...
Oh, and a screw up of my pain meds, resulting in a " hot shot " that the nurses had to watch to make sure I was breathing for 6 hours..

Since this is a NON-PROFIT hospital, the VOTERS should have control of the Board of Directors. If not, the voters need to take title of the land this hospital sits on and FORCE the Board of Directors OUT and have formal Elections for the Board of Directors that will be responsible to the local communities. This is how the RTD ( VTA ) problem got fixed. Your ( non-working ) City Attorney should be applying this remedy NOW.

Mountain View taxpayers have supported this hospital for 60 years, and the Board should be responsive to the TAXPAYERS in the DISTRICT - not outsiders. Yes, let there be some "experts" on the Board, but there should be no chance AT ALL that they can outvote the locals. This is vital, looking at the history of the hospital. How did the taxpayers in THIS district ever end up supporting an OUT of district hospital in Los Gatos? That is a stellar example of misuse of our taxes.

It is pretty clear that we need an entirely NEW Board - one that spends our tax money on OUR district, and puts the taxpayer first. I agree with another poster here (Alex M) that if they want to vote outside our best interests, then they should not have access to our taxes.

Reeder doesn't stand a chance at reelection after his ignorant and arrogant attitude in dealing with OUR funds.

Healthcare used to be much simpler, like every other business. District elected boards effectively made decisions because the equations were not as complex -- a service was provided, a bill was paid, the books balanced. Older people with failing organs died and younger people survived with the right treatments. MDs came over at lunch to see the patients they followed from their office. People stayed for weeks if needed. There were a lot more hospital beds in an area not nearly as populated. It is a completely different world today. The complexities are hard even for experienced administrators to grapple with for every sub-set of an issue. Consultants roll in and out as needed. The independent hospital is a wonder these days, because the expenses of administering these new complexities (take I.T. -- used to be a couple of geeks, now probably over 100 -- HR might have been Hilda who also did payroll == probably 40 now) is paid for through a smaller revenue base than a consolidated system. Dave Reader is 100% correct and a brave acknowledgement. No one cares more about the quality of care or has been more supportive of the kindness that ECH has been known for. The community knows we have a "Gem" in El Camino, who provides services other hospitals do not and does them well. The District retains FULL ownership. But the elected officials do not have the expertise to make key operational decisions. What they must have is the expertise to ensure the people they select have that expertise, as well as qualities such as Moral Courage, Compassion, Quality First, all the things that represent the residents of this community. I salute Dave for being honest at the risk of being targeted. I salute those who are angry at the board as well for caring enough to get angry -- gotta love Democracy.

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