As a result of Tuesday’s primary election, two physicians will compete for a seat on the WhidbeyHealth hospital board in the general election.

Position 5 on the public hospital board was one of two contests that appeared on the Aug. 5 ballot on Whidbey Island. The other was for Position 2 on the Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue board.

In the top two primary election, the two candidates with the most votes move onto the general election.

Four candidates filed for the hospital board position. Theodore Smith last month announced he was no longer seeking to be elected, although it was too late for his name to be removed from the ballot.

Dennis Rochier and Kirk Gasper, both doctors, won the most votes. As of the latest count of ballots Thursday, Rochier received 5,379 votes, or about 46% of the ballots cast, while Gasper got 4,823, or about 41%. Smith received 887 votes, or about 7.6%, while the fourth candidate, Morgan Cooper, won 663 votes, or nearly 6%.

Rochier, a Greenbank resident, said it will be valuable to have a doctor on the board.

“It’s vital to have the perspective of physicians,” he said, adding that the board may not otherwise understand what challenges they face and the role they play in providing health care on the island.

“The cooperation of the medical staff is vital to the hospital,” he said.

Rochier retired from medical practice in 2020 after 40 years of experience in health care. He’s worked in private practice and in hospital settings. In addition to being a doctor, he has a master’s degree in health care administration and worked as the medical director, chief medical officer and chief physician officer at different health care systems, including rural health care clinics.

After retiring to Whidbey Island, he decided to go back to work and became the medical director for WhidbeyHealth clinics in Freeland, Clinton and Coupeville before re-retiring.

Gasper, an Oak Harbor resident, didn’t immediately respond to an email request for comment. He 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.

Cooper previously served on the hospital board after being appointed to replace a retiring board member. She ran for the position in 2023 but lost to Marion Jouas. 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.

In the fire board race, Larry Goff received 1,568 votes, or about 62.5%, while Christopher Chan received about 34% and Scott Austin got 3%.

Goff, who has a background as a career firefighter, moved to Coupeville with his wife in 2009. He is a volunteer at the Coupeville Visitors Center and a member of the Island County Amateur Radio Club.

Chan is a lifelong Whidbey resident and former volunteer firefighter and EMT.

Austin did not provide information for the Island County Voters’ Guide.