Valley Medical Center board candidates lob issues at each other

Valley Medical Center board candidates lob issues at each other

By Steve Hunter

shunter@kentreporter.com

The race is heating up early between incumbent Mike Miller and challenger Aaron Heide for Commissioner Position No. 4 on the Valley Medical Center board.

Located in Renton, Valley Medical Center’s service area includes south King County, including Kent.

Miller, from Kent, claims that if Heide, also of Kent, was elected he could face a potential conflict of interest, since Heide works a neurologist and a stroke specialist at Auburn Regional Medical Center. Heide is the former head of the Valley Medical Center’s Stroke Center.

Miller, who has served on the board since 1996, sees Heide’s work with the Auburn hospital as a potential conflict of interest.

“He ran the stroke center at Valley and now he’s running the stroke program at Auburn,” Miller said during a recent interview at his office as senior vice president of Valley Bank in Kent. “He’s at a competing hospital, and (if on the board) he would have access into the business practices. I think that’s a major conflict of interest.”

Heide, in his first run for an elected office, said there’s not a conflict.

“I don’t steal patients,” he said, during an interview at his office at Washington’s Center for Health and Wellness in Renton. “As a physician, I provide the best care. As a commissioner, I would represent the hospital, my neighbors and family. There are plenty of by-laws in place where I can’t act in opposition to Valley.”

Heide said he currently transfers patients from the Auburn hospital to Valley Medical if more specialized care can be provided at Valley.

Any inside information about business practices Heide might find out from board meetings he said would stay at Valley Medical and not be used to boost business at Auburn Regional Medical Center. The privately owned Auburn hospital is a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc., of King of Prussia, Pa., and one of the nation’s largest hospital-management companies.

“Unless I’m unethical, I would not operate in that manner,” said Heide, who added he also has visiting privileges at Swedish, Overlake, Highline and other hospitals besides Valley Medical and Auburn.

Miller said he doubts Heide’s denial that wouldn’t use information learned at board meetings to help boost business at Auburn.

“If he gets in there (on the board), the information will be shared with the administration at Auburn,” Miller said.

While Heide might face conflict of interest issues if elected to the board, doctors are allowed to serve on hospital boards.

There are no legal restrictions that ban doctors from serving as a commissioner on a hospital district board, according to Janelle Guthrie, spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office.

Heide, who has yet to raise any campaign funds for the Nov. 3 election, has a issue of his own about his competitor. He questions the $25,000 raised by Miller for a position that pays just a small stipend to board members for attending meetings.

Heide said he has an issue with that kind of sum, for a position with little in the way of financial returns.

“That’s kind of interesting for a non-paid position,” said Heide, who added he plans to ask a few friends for donations but isn’t looking for any big donations. “If it’s all about the money, I’ll lose. His funding is off the charts.”

Miller said the money he’s raised is in line with the amounts raised by candidates to the board two years ago.

And who donated to the campaign?

Valley Radiologists, Inc., of Federal Way, was one of the biggest donaters, with $6,000 going to the campaign, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission. That is a group of more than 25 radiologists who serve Valley Medical Center as well as Auburn Regional Medical Center.

Philip Lund, a diagnostic radiologist and president of the Valley Radiologists group, said Miller received the donation because of his strong work as a board member.

“Our group has been involved with Valley Medical for a long time and worked with Miller on a number of issues,” Lund said in a phone interview Wednesday. “He has been a solid advocate to advance medical care in the community. He has done it with determination and an open mind on how to manage health care.

“He (Miller) has done so well for so many years, we didn’t want to see a change.”

Other major contributors to Miller include $5,000 from Valley Anesthesia Associates of Bellevue, representing more than a dozen anesthesiologists; and $3,000 from Sound Inpatient Physicians, Inc., of Tacoma.

Miller decided to run again for one primary reason.

“I do it because I care about the quality of health care in South King County,” Miller said. “I can provide a financial resource and expertise that you do not find with most board members.”

Miller said he has endorsements from mayors Suzette Cooke of Kent, Denis Law of Renton and Margaret Harto of Covington as well as the Renton Chamber of Commerce and Kent Firefighters Union Local 1747.

Heide said he decided to run for the board because he is a doctor.

“I felt it would be nice to have someone with medical experience represented on the board,” Heide said. “The secondary reasons include I live in the district, I see my property taxes going up and there are ways to be more efficient.”

Heide said he has no major endorsements at this point and he does not plan to seek any, but would welcome any organization that wants to support him.

“If people want a change, they’ll get a change,” Heide said. “If they like how things are, they’ll vote for my opponent.”

Miller wants voters to look carefully at each candidate.

“Let’s lay the facts out and let the people decide,” Miller said.

The winning candidate in the Nov. 3 election will serve a six-year term on the five-member board that governs Public Hospital District No. 1.

The district covers Kent, Renton, and portions of Auburn, Black Diamond, Covington, Federal Way, Maple Valley, Newcastle, Tukwila and Seattle.

Both Miller and Heide are Kent residents.