Editor,

In the upcoming election, the winning candidate for a seat on the Whidbey General Hospital board will surely have to face the nasty job of dealing with sagging hospital finances.

As reported at a Feb. 9 2015 board meeting, the hospital’s year to date operating loss was $4.6 million. At about the same time the year before, it was reported the year to date loss for 2013 was over $5.5 million. Taxpayers should be outraged at this lack of fiscal discipline and accountability at our public hospital. The incumbent running for reelection, Georgia Gardner, stated in a recent forum that she is dedicated to the oversight of hospital finances. Indeed. With that kind of “dedication” it seems to me the hospital is in big trouble, and it’s time for some adult leadership.

Of the three candidates for the board, there’s one, Rob Born, who seems to understand that board members have a serious fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers. It’s time for a change, and the upcoming election will be the voters’ chance to make that change.

DAVID HOWE

Greenbank