FROM WHERE I'M SITTING...By jeff mero, executive director

Well, what did I learn from the November elections? First, the ideological gap between voters who live within 15 or 20 miles of Puget Sound and the rest of the state is as wide as ever…and actually seems to be broadening as time passes. Maybe the folks who made Olympia beer were right…it is in the water!

Second, the campaign experts who suggested the easiest way to defeat the medical liability reform proposal was to put another one on the ballot were right on target with their strategy. As the election drew closer, I saw several polls that had the "Undecided Vote" growing larger on both Initiatives 330 and 336…the clearest signal I had that people were getting more and more confused as the time to vote drew nearer and nearer. Confused voters vote "No."

Third, mistrust of government has gotten so strong that voters are willing to give an elected official (whose job most could not begin to describe, let alone evaluate) a potentially enormous new capacity to evaluate and opine on the performance of every other government agency and official in the state. It will be very interesting to see how State Auditor Brian Sonntag responds. We've invited him to address the membership at our mid-year meeting in Chelan, so maybe we will learn more then. [Editor's note: See SNAPSHOTS below.]

What's next? Well, the state's economy-at least that part within 15 or 20 miles of Puget Sound-seems to be picking up steam. Revenue forecasts are showing the state with more money coming in than expected. The political lines are being drawn in anticipation of next year's elections: some are arguing that unmet social and education needs in the state will make short work of any new money, while others argue that the state's "Rainy Day Fund" needs to be refilled before talk of any new spending begins. It's a short (60 day) session, and neither party will want to linger in Olympia, so a lot will be riding on Governor Gregoire's first real budget recommendations.

Here is hoping that each of you finds some time over the next six weeks to slow down! Enjoy the best this time of year has to offer. There's bound to be lots of chances to share extraordinary moments with spouses, partners, children, friends and neighbors. I look forward to seeing many of you and to those whom I'll miss, I wish you the very best.

SNAPSHOTS

The first presentation of "Creating a Peer Mediation Program for your Public Hospital District" will be held in Kennewick on Friday, January 6th. (Another presentation will be held in the Puget Sound region at a date and place yet to be determined.)

Detailed information on the program will be sent out in early December. Attendance is limited so register early!

Julie Kebler, an attorney in the Seattle office of Foster Pepper & Shefelman and an experienced mediator, will be the lead trainer. Dick Goldsmith, AWPHD's director of legal services and policy, will be her co-trainer.

As AWPHD's staff is finishing up preparations for the Monday, January 9th opening of the 2006 legislative session, the Association's legislative agenda is still being refined. Although it was reported in last month's In Focus that AWPHD would be introducing legislation to extend the deadline for PHDs to submit financial statements to the State Auditor's Office (SAO) by 30 days, we're now exploring other ways of achieving the same result. (The impetus for the bill was the difficulty of many smaller PHDs-which have limited accounting staff and financial resources-to complete their Medicare cost reports while concurrently preparing financial statements for the SAO.)

Other developments that may impact AWPHD's legislative agenda include the introduction of a bill by the Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) which, if enacted, would overturn the recent legal opinion by the State Attorney General's Office that the governing boards of special purpose districts are not able to take a collective position on ballot measures under RCW 42.17.130(1). Although AWPHD will support WPPA in its efforts, a pending legal opinion by the Attorney General on RCW 43.17.310(3) ultimately could deliver the outcome that WPPA is seeking legislatively.

We'll also be following closely State Attorney General Rob McKenna's efforts to obtain some measure of sovereign immunity for the state in certain liability lawsuits. The November 27th editions of the Seattle Times and Seattle Post Intelligencer reported that McKenna has yet to release details of his proposal, which seems likely to focus on situations "when the state had little or nothing to do with the incident in question." For example, when a felon under Department of Corrections supervision steals a car and collides with another vehicle, causing injuries or death. If legislation of this type were to pass-although its introduction is likely to roil the waters even more between Republicans and Democrats-it could signal an opportunity to extend some liability protections to local governments.

AWPHD staff is keeping tabs on the implementation of Initiative 900, which voters approved by almost a 13 point margin (56.44 percent to 43.56 percent) on November 8th. This initiative requires the SAO to conduct performance audits of both state and local governments.

In preliminary discussions with Linda Long, the SAO's director of administration and performance audit, we've learned that the initial focus will be on state government. To determine how well the state is handling health care, Linda said that the SAO "will be following the money"-looking at the programs, activities and "product streams" of the Department of Health and Department of Social and Health Services.

Linda noted that the SAO wants hospitals involved in the formulation of its performance audits, although it's too soon to even speculate on how they would participate in the process. But she did say that performance audits of individual hospitals by the SAO are likely to be four to five years away.

From the reports we received, voters did not solidly support all of the PHD measures on the November ballot. Garfield County PHD's $339,000 maintenance and operations levy for Garfield Community Hospital in Pomeroy garnered 63 percent voter approval. Columbia County PHD's $185,000 special levy failed by three percentage points. And voters failed to approve Clallam County PHD No. 1's $9.8 million bond levy for Forks Community Hospital.

Although holding a "Legislative Day" is certainly not a new concept for educating public officials about a district's activities and challenges, Skagit Valley Hospital (Skagit County PHD No. 1, Mount Vernon) recently added a new twist that others may want to consider: holding a community roundtable that addresses issues other than health care. Physicians and hospital leaders opened the district's October 21st event with a discussion of Skagit Valley Hospital (SVH)'s recent accomplishments and issues.

Then representatives from Skagit County (including the Health Department), Skagit Valley College, the Mount Vernon School District, the City of Mount Vernon, and the Skagit County Physical Activity Coalition talked with state legislators about standards for public health, school construction funding, land use and transportation.

It was the roundtable that brought in more than the usual number of state legislators, opined SVH CEO Gregg Davidson, because it offered them greater visibility in the community. Given the state legislators' response, SVH plans to make the roundtable an integral part of its annual Legislative Day activities, though SVH's main focus still will be on the district's activities and the challenges it faces.

The participants at AWPHD's Small Hospital Construction Workshop judged it to be an unqualified success. AWPHD is especially appreciative to Dan Chandler (Olympic Associates Company, Seattle), Jody Carona (Health Facilities Planning and Development, Seattle), and Dave Franklund (KDF Architecture, Yakima), who did the bulk of the planning, as well as spoke at the workshop.

Thanks, too, goes to presenters Chad Beebe (Washington State Department of Health), Mike Bell (Michael R. Bell & Company, Spokane), Ted Coulson (Foster Pepper & Shefelman, Seattle), Dan Harden (Harden Financial Services, Inc., Seattle), Jon Hongladarom (Foster Pepper & Shefelman, Seattle), and Court Olson (Olympic Associates Company, Seattle). And a "tip of the AWPHD hat" to staffers Wendy Ray and Dick Goldsmith for their support work.

Workshop materials, which should be invaluable to district CEOs/Administrators who are thinking about or embarking on construction projects, will be posted on the AWPHD web site (awphd.org) shortly.

Special Purpose Districts in Washington is the theme of a January 11th seminar in Seattle offered by Lorman Education Services. Designed for attorneys, administrators of special districts, elected officials and board members, the seminar features presentations by Steve Lundin, former senior counsel for the Washington State House of Representatives; Pat Mason, senior legal consultant at the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington; and Scott Thomas, city attorney for Burlington, Washington. More information is available on the Internet at http://www.lorman.com/seminars/seminar_details.php?pid=119568.

SPOTLIGHT: EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAW

Editor's Note: This is a periodic column by Julie Kebler, an attorney in the Employment, Labor and Immigration Practice Group at the Seattle office of Foster Pepper & Shefelman. If you have questions that you'd like Julie to answer in this column, please e-mail them to Dick Goldsmith (richardg@awphd.org).

Volunteers

A unanimous Washington Supreme Court definitively ruled on October 6th that volunteers are not covered by the state's Industrial Insurance Act (IIA).

Here are the facts behind the case, Doty v. Town of South Prairie: Jill Doty was a volunteer firefighter who was injured while responding to a call as firefighter for the Town of South Prairie. After the accident, she filed suit against the town claiming that the town was negligent.

Ms. Doty sought damages for her medical expenses and lost earnings, as well as pain and suffering. The town sought to dismiss the case claiming that the worker's compensation provisions were Doty's exclusive remedy for the injuries she suffered during the course of her duties as a volunteer firefighter.

The trial court agreed and dismissed Doty's suit. However, Doty appealed up to the State Supreme Court, which found that: (1) the IIA does not provide coverage to volunteers; and (2) the employers of volunteers are not entitled to immunity from civil suit.

What does this mean for you? Because a volunteer injured on the job now has no rights under the IIA, the likelihood of a lawsuit has certainly increased. Because many public hospital districts use volunteers, now is a good time to very carefully scrutinize your insurance policies and other avenues of relief available for volunteers injured on the job.

PEOPLE AND PLACES

The Dayton Chamber of Commerce named Bruce Grimshaw and John Burns, CEO and CFO, respectively, of Dayton General Hospital as its Employees of the Year for their work in turning around the Columbia County PHD.

Sandrae Lehman is the new chief financial officer at East Adams Rural Hospital in Ritzville (Adams County PHD No.2).

Jeff Uyyek, AWPHD's director of financial policy, will be leaving the association at the end of December. Jeff will be joining University of Washington Medical Center as their director of regulatory affairs. Jeff's primarily responsibility will be monitioring and analyzing the fiscal impact of state and federal policy

The electorate on Vashon Island will go to the polls on February 7th to determine whether a public hospital district will be created there.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Patient Safety Task Force
December 5 - 5:00 pm • Washington Athletic Club, Seattle
Contact: Angela Segerra (206)216-2539

WSHA Public Policy Committee
December 9 - 10:00 am • WSHA Offices
Contact: Melissa Waddell (206)216-2510

Workers' Compensation PHD & WA Board Meeting
December 14 - 9:00 am • Radisson Gateway Hotel, SeaTac
Contact: Anita Badri (206)216-2553

AWPHD Board Meeting
December 15 - 10:00 am • Radisson Gateway Hotel, SeaTac
Contact: Beionka Moore (206)216-2530

Hand in Hand: Promoting Healthy Minds and Happy Hearts
Partnering in Mental Health Development of Kids and Teens Conference
December 15 - 8:30 am • SeaTac Marriott
Contact: Cynthia Hay 206)216-2862

WSHA Board Meeting
December 16 - 9:00 am • WSHA Offices
Contact: Lisa Rusk (206)577-1852

WWRHCC Board Meeting
December 16 • AWPHD Offices, Seattle
Contact: Elizabeth Floersheim (206)577-1851

AWPHD Peer Mediation Training
January 6 - 9:30 am • Hilton Garden Inn, Kennewick
Contact: Beionka Moore (206)216-2530

Safe Tables Learning Collaborative: Eliminating Nosocomial Infections
January 12 - 8:00 am • DoubleTree Hotel, SeaTac
Contact: Angela Segerra (206)216-2539

AWPHD Board Meeting
January 18 - 11:00 am • Conference Call
Contact: Beionka Moore (206)216-2530

The deadline for the next In Focus is: Friday, December 23rd. Send articles or information to Dick Goldsmith (richardg@awphd.org, Fax: (206)577-1897, 300 Elliott Avenue West, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98119-4118).

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