Voters on Whidbey Island will help determine the future of the WhidbeyHealth hospital system.

Three of the five seats on the board for the hospital district will be on the ballot in November without any incumbents seeking reelection. Perhaps as a result, an unusual number of candidates emerged to run for the hospital seats. At one point during candidate filing week, there were six candidates for Position 5, but that was reduced to four after a couple of people bowed out.

The four candidates will be further reduced to two in the Aug. 5 primary election.

The candidates on the ballot consist of two doctors, a scientist and a marketing professional.

Dennis B. Rochier, a Greenbank resident, retired from medical practice in 2020 after 40 years of experience in health care. In an email to the News-Times, he said that a chance meeting with a WhidbeyHealth physician led him to seek the position. The former colleague told him about the vacant positions on the board and asked him to run.

“Having worked as both a clinician and administrative leader, I have broad knowledge of the complexities of a health care system,” he said. “I am offering my expertise as a resource for the board to improve health services for our community.”

He explained that he started out as a laboratory technician in Dallas, which inspired him to go to medical school. He worked as a physician in numerous settings, including office practice, hospital practice and medical director. Then in 2011, he returned to school and earned a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Washington. He worked as the medical director of primary care clinics, including rural health clinics, Chief Medical Officer of Acute Care including a Critical Access Rural Hospital and Chief Physician Officer of Overlake Medical Clinics.

Rochier said he is certain that the current political climate will bring additional challenges to an already overstressed rural health community.

“Financial challenges are tremendous and if not faced and overcome, WhidbeyHealth could certainly become one of many casualties anticipated in this area of health services in the U.S.A.,” he said in an email.

He explained that he was educated in the Toyota Production System which was used at Virginia Mason for process improvement.

“While I do not believe we should deploy such a widespread change to WhidbeyHealth,” he said, “there are some principles that we can apply to increase the chances of success in the years ahead, namely to reduce waste, improve the patient experience and reduce turnover driving changes that make the work of health care less stressful for employees. The role of leadership is to remove obstacles and ensure that the work is meaningful for the operators at every level of the system.”

Ted Smith, an Oak Harbor resident, noted that the board already has qualified medical professionals on the board and he felt that having someone with a broader perspective would be valuable.

In an email to the News-Times, Smith described his background as multidisciplinary. He’s worked as a scientist, an administrator, an environmental planner and a college educator. He held leadership positions on nonprofit boards and governmental agencies, during which he “had to grapple with how to best accommodate large budget cuts, new mandates, align activities with fiscal constraints while being alert to potential ways to improve service.”

“I also have considerable experience in translating technical information for public consumption, administrative requirements for scientists and engineers, assuring data security, planning for natural disasters and managing interdisciplinary teams,” he said in an email. “I thought those skills might be of value to the commission.”

Smith pointed out that WhidbeyHealth is more than just a hospital — but also a network of clinics. He’s been a patient at the hospital, walk-in clinics and a specialty clinic. He was impressed by the quality of the care he received.

But in addition, he is worried about the financial, medical and environmental threats that the hospital district faces. He expects that the strategic plan, which is nearing completion, will address topics, “such as quality of medical services, facilities and current and future staff.”

“However, I also have experienced receiving invoices for services a year after they occurred, and I saw an insurance claim for a hospital physician denied because it was submitted late,” he said. “Hospital management has taken steps to prevent such issues, and I find that to be comforting, but new challenges loom.”

He pointed to the higher prices for equipment due to tariffs, which has already affected the hospital and threatens to continue to increase costs. Also, Medicaid cuts threaten to reduce hospital revenue.

“At the same time, as a geoscientist, I know we live in earthquake country and live on an island,” he wrote. “What I do not know is how well prepared Puget Sound Energy is to restore power to the hospital (and clinics) following a major quake, and how well prepared the administrative units of the hospital are to function without power from PSE for days to weeks.”

The other two candidates didn’t respond to an email with candidate questions.

Kirk Gasper, an Oak Harbor resident, wrote in the Island County Voters’ Guide that he served as a physician in the Navy and retired as a captain in 2017. He served both overseas as as the director of medical services at Naval Hospital Oak Harbor. He currently works for Teladoc Inc. and is board certified in family medicine.

“As a family physician, I have experience in all aspects of the health system, including outpatient clinics, emergency departments, labor and delivery and other inpatient services,” he wrote in the voters’ pamphlet. “These experiences will help guide leadership decisions to maximize the value and service that WhidbeyHealth provides to our community.”

Gasper agreed that WhidbeyHealth “faces continued challenges in its quest to provide the highest level of care while dealing with ongoing financial challenges.”

“As hospital commissioner, my goal is to provide the highest quality medical facilities and care, while providing maximal value for your tax dollars,” he wrote.

In addition, Morgan Cooper did not respond to email or submit information for the voters’ guide. She previously served on the hospital board. When she ran for the position in 2023, she said she was the owner of Image Builders Marketing Services and the program director for a weight loss clinic in Oak Harbor. She also served as the clinic administrator for the bariatric program at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, and before that, the bariatric clinic director for North Valley Plastic Surgery in Phoenix, Arizona.