This month’s three to one (!) vote for Measure A to “Open Our Hospital” forever is the best news of a people-powered victory that we have had in our community since banning GMO farming two and a half years ago. Despite a continuation of a shameful five year vendetta by Sonoma West Times & News publisher
(This article first appeared on December 30, 2014 at Waccobb.net) As noted earlier, the latest issue of the Sonoma West contains an unusual lead article for a weekly local newspaper that ostensibly supports the interest of the community it serves. The front page article titled, “Sparks Fly around hospital’s major benefactor,” is newspaper publisher Rollie
Just one week after the October 30 ribbon cutting ceremony in which the Sonoma West Medical Center made history by becoming the first community hospital to close and reopen, the new “no-wait” emergency room is already seeing as many or more patients each day as Palm Drive Hospital. According to the SWMC, as of Friday night,
(This article first appeared on May 20, 2015 in WaccoBB.net) It was nearly noon on Friday, May 16, when Tom Harlan, Palm Drive Hospital’s beleaguered CEO, rushed past me in the hall outside the federal bankruptcy courtroom in Santa Rosa looking like a man who had just seen a ghost. Two attorneys being paid about $500 an
Ray Hino, the warm-spirited, highly accomplished new CEO of the soon-to-open Sonoma West Medical Center (SWMC), seems to relish his new role as tour guide. Every Saturday for the past few months Hino, with his signature welcoming smile, light blue suit and tie, has graciously guided area residents through the innovative steps and spaces that
(This article first appeared at WaccoBB.net on May 21, 2014; it has been slightly updated to add additional documentation). The decision last month by Palm Drive’s Board of Directors to reject the doctor-led Foundation Plan that would have kept the hospital open was the moment of truth in the contentious struggle to retain a life-saving emergency
