It is with mixed emotions of sadness and consternation that I leave the board of directors of John C. Fremont Healthcare District after serving the hospital in one capacity or another for 39 years.
I spent 15 years with the hospital foundation supporting the hospital with fundraising to help purchase equipment and created the Black and White Ball to facilitate that need. At that point I was asked by other hospital board members to apply to fulfill a vacancy on their board. I was appointed, ran for office, and I’ve been helping them in one way or another ever since.
Twenty years ago, the hospital faced imminent closure. There wasn’t any money to pay any bills. The hospital faced the shutdown of utilities, the loss of suppliers and the resignation of medical staff who became tired of not getting paid.
I put together Measure G, an ordinance permitting a one-half percent sales tax, and it was overwhelmingly approved by the community. It was in place for 20 years.
The money was for operations and it kept the hospital open. I continuously told the many hospital CEOs they needed to turn the hospital around because eventually the money would stop and it did earlier this year.
About the same time the state decided all older hospitals had to be replaced with new facilities because of statewide earthquake concerns. A law was passed, but didn’t provide any funding.
Making this happen became my personal goal. Knowing the deadline was looming, I led a group of citizens to create and pass Measure O, with co-chair Beth Tomsick. It provides a 1 percent sales tax to use for repayment of a USDA loan.
Again, the citizens of Mariposa rose up to the occasion and passed the ordinance. We are on track to have a new hospital by the deadline of 2030. The design has just been submitted to Mariposa County for approval and as we speak is being unveiled to the public.
All told I have spent thousands of hours working as a volunteer to keep healthcare in Mariposa.
But we are at a crossroads. And while I made this my life work, I now need to step away, for professional reasons.
As the public knows the hospital has been in a state of chaos since fall of 2022 when Wendy Ryder-Priola was elected to the board of directors. From January 2023 through April 2024, there have been five CEOs. I won’t elaborate all the things she has done with the many CEOs, but she is a liability to the healthcare district.
There is much work that needs to be done within our healthcare district, as all citizens come to realize. There needs to be a culture change and that doesn’t happen overnight.
Headwinds from the federal government just makes everything harder. There needs to be an experienced and excellent CEO who can act unfettered without interference from Wendy Ryder-Priola.
There is a joke among many members of the staff each time a new CEO arrives with guesses as to how long they will last until Wendy offs them. This has to stop. There are many good employees at the district who deserve much better.
In just the last few days I’ve seen and heard some things that lead me to believe our healthcare district is moving backward instead of forward. I’m no longer convinced the hospital will survive the next five years.
We may be building a new hospital we will never move into. I just cannot be part of a failing system that I’ve worked so hard to support and keep going for the next 50 years. In the end, the board of directors may be facing a lawsuit from the public. Therefore, I have resigned my position on the board of directors.
I will now move onto the next phase of my life and devote my energies to new chapters and horizons. I have enormous respect for so many people I’ve met working within our healthcare district and have nothing but heartfelt thanks to the many people who trusted me with their votes over the years.
Thank you for all the support I’ve felt over the years.
Be well.
Suzette Prue is a resident of Mariposa and now a former member of the John C. Fremont Healthcare District Board of Directors.
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