Candidate Profile: Stacey Plummer, incumbent for commissioner District No. 3

Stacey Plummer is a veteran member of the Adams County Public Hospital District No. 2’s Board of Commissioners. She often finds herself to be alone in her way of thinking as a commissioner.

Most notably, Plummer was the one who took an opposing stand during a contentious public meeting in January. While the commissioners appeared poised to end their relationship with two doctors who had worked in the district for 20 and 16 years respectively, Plummer made a motion suggesting the district keep negotiations alive. The effort fell short when none of the other board members voted in support of the motion.

Born and raised in Ritzville, Plummer, 65, is a Ritzville High School graduate. She spent one year at Central Washington State College and later went on to earn her Washington state real estate license.

She currently cares for her mother, Irene Selcho.

Previously she was the owner of the Whisperin’ Palms in downtown Ritzville.

She has worked as an office manager, legal assistant, in real estate sales and as an owner of a commercial fishing vessel.

In addition to her 10 years of service as a commissioner for the hospital district, Plummer served as a board member for the Ritzville Downtown Development Association for about five years. She previously served The Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce as a board member.

When asked if she plans to accept campaign contributions, Plummer said yes.

“I have relatives and friends who trust and believe in my position on the healthcare for our community. They want to assist my campaign and support me in any way possible,” she said.

The following is Plummer’s formal statement regarding her decision to seek re-election.

“I am running for re-election to the hospital board because I want to make positive changes for the direction of the hospital and clinics. My goal is to reach the best solutions for all of our communities with regard to healthcare. The members of the hospital district’s board are elected by the citizens to provide leadership in making decisions regarding the highest quality, affordable healthcare alternatives available for the people of the three communities.

“I did not agree with the board’s decision at the January meeting regarding contract negotiations with our two longstanding physicians in the community, who could not accept the new contracts proposed to them. I was the only one to propose to keep negotiations open. As a result of this lack of ability to negotiate contracts with these physicians for the benefit of the communities, these doctors continue to have privileges but they are no longer a part of the hospital district system.

“In their place, the district now employs interim physicians to provide healthcare at our clinic and hospital. This is an expensive system for the district to finance and maintain. Recognizing that Hometown Family Medicine is a vital part of our communities’ medical system, we need to find a solution to work with them.

“The financial situation and the bitterness in the community needs to be resolved. The community needs to re-assert its control over the hospital district to provide the highest quality, most cost effective healthcare possible. I believe I can be pivotal in that effort.”

The following are Plummer’s responses during a recent interview with The Journal.

The contract process seemed to ignore public sentiment. It appeared the goal from the beginning was to force the doctors out. Was that the right thing to do?

“We were presented with the first half of the contract and I was sent a text saying the doctors had agreed with the contract. Then I went to a meeting and the second part of the contract had a non-compete clause in it. It would have ruined the doctors’ careers in Ritzville. If they had signed it, they could have been fired and then would not have been allowed to practice in Ritzville for two years and that is just unacceptable. It was unacceptable to even proceed with that contract.”

Did you know that was the kind of contract you, as a commissioner, were offering to your doctors?

“Yes, however I was the lone board member who did not accept this contract and did not accept any of the following decisions that were made. I truly feel it was a waste of $25,000 to go ahead with this contract proposal. We could have used our district attorney (Randy Stamper). If the remainder of the board and this CEO wanted to get rid of the doctors, they should have just told them they wanted to go in a different direction and given them notice rather than spending all this money.

“The fact of the matter is the doctors could not sign the contract because of the non-compete clause language.”

The district’s lawyer is not actually on retainer. Does he have a bias?

“Randy does what’s best for the district. I have been on the board for 10 years and I have never seen that. I have seen him try to assist the district going in the direction it should go. He has been there from the beginning when the doctors were here. He saw how they had helped the district.

“It is a perception of the CEO and some of the board members that he has a bias. However he had a meeting with us and explained to them there is no bias. He is for the district. They would not accept that. Mark Barglof decided to pay a Seattle attorney who has nothing to do with our district and no knowledge of what’s really gone on in our district.

“Randy does. It’s just the fact that Mr. Barglof wanted to go to the Seattle attorney and there was nothing I personally could do about it. I think it is unfair to Randy; he has seen us through some really bad times and helped us get through the good times.”

Why do you seem to be alone on the board?

“I think because it started several years ago with other board members who were going around and wanted to get rid of the doctors then too. I stood up and I wouldn’t approve of that. Nobody goes and asks questions of anybody. I would always ask questions of the doctors. I would go to the doctors and ask ‘what do you think of this?’ They wanted that. They wanted to explain their side of things. The board won’t even talk to the doctors and try to resolve any of the problems that we have. The communication level is very bad. I would bring that up and the commissioners didn’t like that. In fact at a meeting I was put down because of asking questions.”

Is there any evidence that has led you to believe the physicians acted inappropriately as physicians while employed by the district?

“I am not aware of any. Nobody has given me any answers to that. I think the truth speaks for itself. We have had no malpractice lawsuits in the last 20 years. I just really don’t know of anything. In my mind one of the biggest problems is that they (doctors) were not going to be controlled by our administrator.”

Doctors may have been involved politically more than they should have been. Did they have the community’s best interests in mind?

“In the beginning of my tenure as a commissioner I saw that the doctors had a lot of control. And having realized that we were their employer, I questioned that. It wasn’t well accepted by the board at that time because they saw what the doctors had done for the district and I was brand new.

“After I was around for awhile and learned more regarding the practice and the business, my view of that changed. The doctors at one point in time even had to completely run the clinic by themselves. There was a time with CEO Larry Hutcheson that he appointed himself as clinic manager. He did nothing as clinic manager. What they did, they took over the clinic and continued business as usual. They continued providing the healthcare of the community as usual. In my mind, that led people to think that they just like to have the control. They had to do what they had to do to keep the healthcare of the community going.”

Many have voiced concerns over the manner in which the doctors were treated at the end. Do you think the board has done a good job of listening to the community?

“Absolutely not.”

“Has the board as a collective unit mistreated the community?”

“There are some things that were said at the January meeting by a board member that I thought were inappropriate. They didn’t listen to the community. The community was pretty antagonistic but they were angry. We are supposed to represent the wishes of the residents in the district so they get the best healthcare possible. We’re also supposed to be a steward of the district’s money.

“But, we need to please the people.”

Shouldn’t the board have been the one in the ambassador’s role, the ones taking the high road?

“In my opinion that’s the way it should have gone. In my opinion there seems to be too many egos and personal agendas involved. There was no professionalism in any of this.”

Can the district ever reach its previous goal of 8,500 clinic visits a year?

“No. Never. We lost our two doctors who had the best numbers. Granted they could have seen more people. And that was the initial thought at the beginning of their contract process. And it didn’t seem unattainable to me. However they weren’t given that chance. Family practice is extremely difficult. They are not just like a specialist. They have to deal with their patients’ physical, mental and emotional issues.”

The district has now lost the Lind clinic and patient volumes in Washtucna have fallen. People have walked away from the facilities. How do you ever get that back?

“We’re not going to get Sackmann’s and Eckley’s patients back at this time. The reason being is because of our administration not working collaboratively with them. If you look at it from the doctors’ side, you really wouldn’t want to work for somebody who tried to ruin your career. Unless we have a new administration, things aren’t going to improve.”

When you hire a new doctor do you see a large volume of patients returning?

“I don’t think so. I think it will give a little more stability to new people who do come in. There’s only so many people in this district to grab and our numbers are never going to be the same.”

Is it a good idea to expand the district to include Sprague?

“The reason for that is to get the tax money available in the Sprague area. However we would have to give something back, which means opening a clinic there at least one day a week. I haven’t made a decision whether that’s good or bad. Look at Washtucna numbers. Many people there already choose to go to Colfax. And Sprague has Spokane.

“We did have a telephone survey, but with the current people in Sprague, I would imagine they would probably have their own doctors already selected. I don’t know how many new patients would be available to make it viable for the district.”

When Paul Lewis announced his resignation, members of the board said they were not willing to spend $25,000 to conduct a search for a CEO. Do you still think that was a good decision?

“That was a very bad decision. There wasn’t enough research done on our current CEO. I don’t think it was only the money issue. A board member that knew him better than the rest of us kind of pushed it through. I personally regret that very much. Even though I never really could have any say about it because I was alone again. His contract is above and beyond what he should be paid compared to other CEOs from similar districts.”

Why would you allow the hiring of an administrator who didn’t live in district?

“I told Kirk (Danekas) and the rest of the board that he needs to live in our district. But our board chairman said that he can’t move and that if we would like to force him to move then he probably wouldn’t accept the contract and it would be a deal breaker. And, I said ‘so what.’ At that time too many red flags had come up for me.”

The district seems to be spending a lot of money without prior board approval. Did you relinquish your board oversight of spending?

“I haven’t relinquished it. But I have no control. It is still a 4 to 1 vote. Something is terribly wrong with the CEO’s relationships with some of these people we are giving out money to. We had a contract with QHR, who is a consultant. I even asked why didn’t we use QHR for the strategic plan, when that was a service offered in our contract. Yet we paid Sandy Champion again. I was never given an answer.”

Why was only part of the original draft of the strategic plan released to the public?

“Because there isn’t transparency within the administration to the public. And now that the public is seeing this more and more they are getting a little more agitated and angry.”

Is it acceptable to you that so many of the district’s top administrators live outside of the district?

“No. When the maintenance position was open, Mr. Barglof put together a hiring team. I have never seen the questions asked during those interviews. I don’t know anything about the hiring team. This hiring team makes the decision of who to hire. I don’t know if there was somebody else even qualified for the maintenance position considered. The head of maintenance makes more money than our Adams County Treasurer, Assessor or Auditor.

“Our previous CFO lived here. CEO Paul Lewis lived here. CEO Larry Hutcheson lived here. CEO Jim Parrish lived here. Two interim CEOs, Bill Russell and Jerry Lane, did not.”

Is now the time to issue a new strategic plan?

“We do need a new strategic plan. I think maybe we should have waited until after the election, around January 1 would have been a good starting point. And a five-year plan in my mind was too much. In my commissioners handbook it suggests two or three-year plans.”

Do you support the construction of a new hospital?

“At this time I don’t feel it’s an option. Five years ago we had a firm come in to assess the building and equipment and I think we need, before we do anything, to address that. We need to find out where the equipment is condition wise. Has it been maintained? Can we keep it in good working order for a few more years?

“My thought is to not do a major remodel. Let’s first research how the equipment is functioning at this time. Many years ago, I thought rebuilding was a good option because we were doing well. It was brought to us that rather than putting $5.5 million into this building, why not put $12 million into a new building.

“I thought okay, we won’t have a disruption of the business. And of course we have to think of the next 50 years. But right now, it’s just not an option.

“But the public has to be educated about this building. The public doesn’t understand what’s going on with the infrastructure. They need to be given the proper information to understand the condition of our facility.”

Who should take the lead on healing the community?

“The board should be the bigger person, however I have not seen that as of yet. I think some commissioners think that what they have done was right. I think some might have a problem saying they are wrong.

“We need to be the peace makers.”

Who is the real face of a hospital or a clinic?

“The physicians.”

If you had the power to make it better tomorrow, what would you do?

“I have been trying to figure that out. I don’t feel there is going to be any change with the current administration. They feel they are doing right. They are not looking at the bottom line and some think that we are going to be drawing a lot more patients in than I personally feel we will. As for brokering peace between Hometown Family Medicine and the administrator, I don’t see that happening. And if it was going to happen it would have happened by now. I don’t feel there can be any peace at this point.”

Who’s at fault for all of this?

“The board. Some of the board.”

If you are re-elected what are your priorities?

“Consider searching for a new administrator. And if that new administrator is involved with a larger firm such as Providence then I really feel we can bring our two homegrown doctors back into the picture. The main thing is to try to help the community get over their anger and frustration and lack of trust by assuring them that we will help our homegrown doctors. Building trust with the community that is no longer there is a high priority. And ensure that we still have healthcare is the top priority.”

You believe it is important to keep the hospital viable?

“We’re at a crossroads obviously. I am personally very thankful that we have what we have here. I came from Seattle and I was taking my mom to Spokane to see her doctor when she still lived in Sprague. It took me a little while to get her to be willing to come here instead of Spokane. Now, she trusts Dr. Sackmann explicitly.

“I am just thankful that we have this place here that I can go to. That we have an emergency room that my mom and I and family members have gone to, because time is of the essence if you are really ill. I think we need to concentrate on the good that we have here and try to make it better. Instead of tearing it down and taking away all the years of service and loyalty that has been put into our hospital and clinic.”

Doesn’t everyone have to work together to preserve the hospital?

“I agree with that. Most people are saying they are afraid they are going to lose their hospital. I really truly believe there is a solution. One of the solutions is working with Hometown Family Medicine. And, seeing if we can get their patients to trust the hospital because they don’t want to go to the hospital because of the way their doctors have been treated. I think that will create a trust that is needed and it will show that the district is trying to mend the fences.”