Former employee to run for CCMH Board

Editor:

Dear Editor & Citizens of Cedar County,

I would like to take a few moments to officially announce my candidacy for the Cedar County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees. You did not see my name on the list of certified candidates this past week, but that was an oversight. I have verified with the County Clerk’s office and received an apology for the oversight. You will see my name in two future releases prior to the election on April 6.

First, I am not an embittered former employee. Yes, I was employed by the hospital for almost two years, and was released from employment, but still I am not bitter. The day I was released was a day of relief as a load of stress had been lifted off my shoulders.

So, why am I seeking to serve as your representative on the Board of Trustees? I am a concerned citizen who sees the value of a local hospital in our area and am deeply concerned for the longevity of the hospital in our county. Almost daily I am told stories by you, the citizens, of problems you have encountered at the hospital, and how you don’t feel your complaints or criticisms have been or are being heard. You tell me how you don’t like how the hospital keeps cutting services, but the ones which remain don’t seem to get any better. For those of you residing outside of the Tri-County area of northwestern Cedar County, I hear you anger and frustration when you express how the services which are supposed to be for the entire county are reduced and eliminated everywhere but in El Dorado. Yet, the hospital wants to raise your taxes and provide nothing in return. I’m here to give you a voice for change, change for the better, change for improved services, and change for expanded services.

Albert Einstein once said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Sadly, at CCMH the byword is, “that’s not the way we’ve always done it,” or, and this one really angered me, “that’s not the way we did it in Osceola.” The administration has used these to justify their disapproval of numerous employee presented solutions, process improvements, or simply a change that would make their job’s work more efficient. I presented numerous changes which would have improved computer security, but limited employees’ ability to use the Internet for anything other than business purposes, these improvements would have prevented the hospital from being hacked last year. The response of the administration to me? “That’s not the way we’ve always done it.”

The latter comment about Osceola really frustrated me. I heard it almost every monthly meeting of the Department Heads. I wanted to ask the CEO, how did the “Osceola” way of doing things help Osceola’s hospital? Can you show me where that hospital still is in operation? Can you even show me the concrete foundations of the building? Osceola’s hospital failed due to this type of thinking, and Osceola and the surrounding communities suffered.

Yet, CCMH’s administration remains insistent on doing the things the way they’ve always been done, or they use examples of failure to justify their poor decision-making abilities. Another pertinent quote from Einstein is his definition of insanity, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” These two quotes, by this very intelligent man, show us why CCMH is not prospering and operating in the black. The administration uses the same thinking which created the problems attempting fix the problems they created. Impossible! The administration continues to do the same thing over and over and over again, hoping – just somehow it will work this time. But, it won’t.

Sadly, the CCMH Board of Trustees is not without blame in all of this. The Board acts as an extension of the CEO, rather than the Board directing the CEO’s actions. The Board consists of members who have been selected by the CEO, except one. They are the CEO’s friends. Most of the sitting Board members ran unopposed in their elections. Why? Because no one else wanted to take on the task. The Board has allowed and accepted that the CEO knows the job better than they, and they simply approve the misinformed and ill-minded recommendations of the CEO. Yes, I witnessed this firsthand. Contrarily, I was not asked to run for the Board by the CEO, I chose to run.

So, I decided that I could complain about the hospital, or I could do something about it. I could either be just another voice of complaint and bickering, or I could get involved and be a person who brings change, listens to the citizens of Cedar County, one who reads and understands the laws the hospital and the Cedar County Department of Health are required to follow and holds the administration accountable. I am a citizen who has a vision for the future, and not an anchor in the past.

In closing, I hope you have read something here that will encourage you, something that might give you hope for the future of CCMH and the services they are required to provide to the entire county, something that helped you see that I am a different kind of candidate for the CCMH Board of Trustees.

I will be your voice. Why? You will have elected me, and you expect your representative to be your voice. I will listen to you, respectfully and patiently as you share with me your complaints regarding CCMH services, or the lack thereof. I will not sit idly by and watch a valuable resource be squandered by poor decision making, lack of leadership, mismanagement, and disregard of the needs of the citizens of Cedar County.

Should you have questions about me or my positions I can be found on facebook, and I will provide you with my phone number or email, if needed.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and ask for your support and vote on April 6th.

Regards,

David Bozarth

El Dorado Springs

Candidate for the CCMH Board of Trustees