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“Pend Oreille Hospital District (the district) [POHD]…, was established to support hospital facilities within the distict … approximately two-thirds of Bonner County, Idaho.” The POHD mission statement at pendoreillehospitaldistrict.org confirms I.C. 39-1318, “the duty is hereby imposed upon the hospital boards… for maintaining public hospitals or medical clinics within their districts,” and the 2019 POHD-BGH “Agreement,” 3.2(a)(ii) “clinical services… of persons within the district, especially… to women’s health…”

The boundaries of where POHD taxpayer money can be spent are clearly defined in these statements.

Yet POHD voted 4-1 at their April board meeting to use POHD taxpayer money to fund losses of the Women’s Health Clinic, which include salary expenses for a Bonner General Health doctor and registered nurse to provide services at the Boundary Women’s Health Clinic for primarily Boundary County residents. BGH confirms the out-of-district location on its website http://www.bonnergeneral.org/swh/ [“locations in Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry.”

Further, between April 2016 and November 2017, POHD used thousands of POHD taxpayer dollars to provide facility funding of the Bull River Medical Clinic in Noxon, Mont., for the primary health benefit of Montana residents.

Why is POHD violating their fiduciary duty, and arguably, an alleged criminal misuse of public funds per Idaho Code 18-5701, in freely misusing POHD taxpayer funds to provide services to out-of-District locations and residents?

This is just one question the two POHD trustee candidates should be addressing publicly before the May 21 election.

VOTE May 21. [Joan Terrell, library trustee, and Spencer Hutchings, hospital trustee].

DANIEL ROSE

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