Now that Tenet has taken over operations of Hi-Desert Medical Center, the focus of the board of directors of the healthcare district has changed. Managing editor Tami Roleff gives a brief run down about the candidates…
Bob Armstrong is a 35-year resident of the Hi-Desert, 12-year former board member of the Hi-Desert Water District, and the owner of the Hi-Desert’s Del Taco restaurants. He also represented the hospital in its real estate needs; now that the hospital is leased to Tenet, he is free to be a director. Armstrong said he is running for the healthcare district because he wants to be involved in determining how Tenet’s $2 million annual rent will be invested in the community. Armstrong says the greatest priority facing the district is meeting the demands of a quickly changing healthcare environment, funding and expanding its healthcare goals, and exploring new ways to provide services to Hi-Desert communities. Patricia Cooper has been on the healthcare district board for the past eight years, and says she is running because the district has become a part of her very being and caring for members of our community. She says the district’s priority should be ensuring healthcare is available in the high desert for every need, such as clinical tests, and all medical levels of doctors. She adds that major-medical decisions, such as pain management and dental, can be achieved on behalf of the Morongo Basin. Misty Evans is a nursing graduate from Copper Mountain College who lives in Twentynine Palms. Evans believes nurses have a different point of view concerning healthcare, and that because of this, they should be a part of the healthcare district board. She believes the healthcare district’s biggest priority is identified in its mission statement: “To improve the health and wellness of the community.” She says voters should vote for her because of her passion for the community, as well as human life and wellness, and she wants to give back to her community. Joseph Sullivan was on the healthcare district’s board of directors when the hospital affiliated with Tenet Corporation. He says he wants to continue to serve on the board and to help maintain and grow the services offered by the hospital to meet the needs of Morongo Basin residents. Sullivan says he played a leading role in helping the Hi-Desert Medical Center solve its critical fiscal challenges, and he’d like to finish what he started. Sullivan retired from the Morongo Unified School District in its facilities and maintenance department, was a police officer from Ontario and reserve officer in Cathedral City, and owned a real estate appraisal business in the Morongo Basin for 20 years. Dianne Markle-Greenhouse, who is also running for the healthcare district board, did not respond to our email for this story.
CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR HEALTHCARE DISTRICT
