BAH release – Coos Bay, OR, November 18, 2022 — Bay Area Hospital can continue to serve patients without interruption. Local residents will be relieved to learn that an attempt to recall two members of the Bay Area Hospital board of directors has failed due to an inability to collect the number of valid signatures of registered district voters required to proceed. The filers of this petition were operating under a misconception regarding the role of a hospital board. Dr. Tom McAndrew and Dr. Donna Rabin were the two directors targeted by this effort. Dr. McAndrew stated, “I have volunteered 22 years as an elected board member committed to the success of Bay Area Hospital. The Board’s role is a strategic oversight and not control of day-to-day operations. We supported our staff with high-cost agency labor to get us through the pandemic but with unsustainable financial losses. Our mental health unit is one of only 12 in the 62 Oregon hospitals. We have found funding for this year while we work with community partners to fix a broken state mental health system. Our employees are the heart of this organization, and their success is our success.” The recall effort was a joint project of two unions, contributing $85,000 between them. The UFCW 555 is currently engaged in contract negotiations with the hospital. The Oregon Nursing Association (ONA) had successfully negotiated their contract at the end of August, with 89% voting to approve. Throughout the recall effort the leaders of this petition were not residents of our community. Had their effort been successful, it would have caused significant disruption to the hospital’s ability to conduct business and damaged the hospital’s reputation as the premier healthcare facility on the south coast. The voters elect the six members of the Board of Bay Area Hospital in our district, and each of them brings unique expertise to the group, which is charged with setting healthcare policy and overseeing quality compliance. We are grateful to them for continuing to faithfully serve our community without compensation during this unwarranted attack. We also want to thank the community for seeing through this effort and recognizing the extreme challenges that hospitals are facing today.
