I would like to provide some feedback in regards to the resignation of Mr. Rhine, CEO of Whidbey General Hospital. Over the more than ten years of being a resident of Whidbey Island, I have seen our local hospital sink farther and farther away from being a quality hospital to utilize as a resident and taxpayer for medical care. Of course, not all the blame can go to Mr. Rhine, but as your article stated, his tenure at WGH in very unusual when compared to other hospitals CEO tenures. There is such a dysfunction at our local hospital, and I think a new perspective, on many levels, needs to happen in order to invigorate the quality of care provided at WGH to at least meet, and perhaps someday exceed, that of other neighboring hospitals.

I hope that the Board and the new CEO will examine the status quo of the hospital and place a greater importance on hiring and retaining staff that will not be afraid to “shake things up” and once and for all give Whidbey Island taxpayers a hospital that is competitive and provides quality care to all. Instead of retaining “the driftwood,” obviously still in management at WGH, shifting the focus to recruiting and retaining managers with the appropriate educational backgrounds and the ability to bring a sense of change and integrity to the table will in the end have a cascade effect and improve the quality of care WGH overall provides.

Yes, this may be a “rural” area, but there are very competitive and reasonable alternatives for patients to seek care off-island without too much of a burden. I just hope the board and taxpayers see this as an opportunity to change the dead-end path WGH has obviously been on for years. I personally will become more involved with board meetings and voting-in of more qualified commissioners to ensure our hospital has a chance to resurrect itself at this critical point in time. The board needs to take a serious look at the qualifications and education of their top and middle managers, it seems the hospital spends more time in hiring managers to manage old managers, instead of focusing on the value of having a few very qualified/educated managers to lead several employees to provide the kind of care every person seeks at a local/community hospital.

I find it ironic that after reviewing the minutes, staff complains about mandatory low census time off then in the next breath complains about block time that results in mandatory “overtime.” I don’t quite get that comment. Sounds like poor management and too many renegade employees with too much time on their hands, in other words, too many cooks in the kitchen without a chief chef.

Mary Jackson

Oak Harbor