A vote is coming up for the EMS funding increase/continuation.

I feel it is important that the public be informed of both sides of this issue. Whidbey General Hospital has heavily promoted EMS, and is not allowing the other side of the issue to be presented on the ballot.

As a physician I am naturally in favor of supporting medical care. When it comes to EMS funding, though, if you review the numbers you will see that our local EMS system has been overfunded for many years. Despite the general budget cuts, the EMS system has had much more money than needed, and has expanded their facilities, raised their salaries, and still had an excess.

Please review the accurate numbers as relayed to Mr. Rob Born by the hospital as a result of his public records requests. These numbers can be found online at www.whidbeygeneralreformers.org. I am sure Mr. Born would be available to write an informative piece for your paper if requested. I believe you can contact him via the website.

Mark Borden MD

Coupeville