JCF Board selects two, Dr. Smith withdraws as candidate

 

 

 

 

By TOM LYDEN

Staff Writer

Before the interviews of candidates even began, the prohibitive favorite to join the John C. Fremont Board of Directors, Dr. Kenneth Smith, took himself out of the running.

Smith, the hospital’s chief of staff, had said he would have voluntarily stepped down from that position to avoid a conflict of interest if he were chosen for the board. 

But Smith announced at the beginning of the May 20 special board meeting that he had been so impressed by the other five candidates that he was withdrawing his name from consideration. 

The board ultimately selected Rob Fox, a member of the John C. Fremont Hospital Foundation, and Jon Wurl, a former president of Mariposa Friends of the Library, as the two newest board members.

During the interviews, Fox, who had emphasized his background in managing large construction projects, expressed his concern about proper oversight of the project to build a new hospital by 2030 and whether it was still on schedule. 

Fox said he worried about the “burn rate,” the speed at which the district was spending money on the new hospital project.  

Fox said he would resign from the hospital’s non-profit foundation to avoid any appearance of a conflict. 

Wurl was president of Mariposa Friends of the Library when a treasurer stole more than $100,000. He said the episode gave him real-life experience in crisis governance on a nonprofit board.

He was also involved in early efforts to get Measure O on the ballot, the 1 percent sales tax designated for construction of the new hospital. 

Wurl said he also has 25 years of experience designing scientific instruments.

The appointments are for only six months, until the Nov. 3 election. Both Fox and Wurl said they will seriously consider running for the full, four-year term.

 In selecting Fox and Wurl, the three remaining board members — Chair Rose Fluharty, treasurer Jesse Bullis and secretary Teresa Johnson — passed over three other candidates with experience in medicine and government. 

Those candidates include Dr. Joe Rogers, who previously sat on the district’s board of directors for eight years, and was on the hospital staff for 20 years. 

Rogers spoke about his experience working in critical access hospitals that were profitable and he said the district has that potential as well. 

Rogers was not available to attend the interview in person and was allowed to appear remotely.

The board also passed on Marshall Long, who served on the Mariposa Board of Supervisors for eight years. 

Long said he was born at the hospital and all of his family members had received care there.  He stressed his local ties to the community and his concerns about the billing system. 

Long said he had struggled with the hospital billing department to pay his copays for two visits. He said a friend also had difficulty paying.

The final candidate, David Williams, was the former manager of imaging for the hospital, who left in 2022. 

Of the current state of the district, he said, “Looking from the outside, it looks a little shady; hopefully, we can right this ship.”

Two seats opened up on the board when Board Chair Wendy Ryder Priola and member Craig Burchfiel suddenly resigned last month, citing tensions on the board.

A third seat, a two-year term, will also be on the November ballot from when Suzette Prue resigned last September.

The candidate filing window for the Nov. 3 election opens July 13 and closes Aug. 7.