By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Voters chose Paul Hoar, Dominick Curatola and Ed Bough to oversee El Camino Hospital District's transition back into public hands.
Hoar, an incumbent, was the top vote-getter with 26.3 percent of the vote. Incumbent Curatola came in second with 24.6 percent, and Bough, the only challenger in the race, won the third seat with 25.5 percent.
Peter Pollock, appointed to the board in January, got 23.6 percent.
"I thank the voters for supporting me during this difficult time of trying to ... return the hospital to its rightful owners," Hoar said.
The El Camino Hospital District Board voted in 1992 to transfer the hospital from district control to Camino Healthcare, a private, nonprofit corporation. Unsatisfied with Camino's performance, the board has worked during the past two years to return the hospital back to district control.
Curatola said he looks forward to spending the next four years "mending the wounds that have been inflicted on El Camino Hospital. We will concentrate on improving its financial health and re-establishing the esprit de corps that distinguishes the institution from many others because of the quality of its nursing care," he said.
The district includes Mtn. View, Los Altos and two thirds of Sunnyvale.
The three incumbents, ran campaigns based on their desire to see the hospital through its transition.
Bough was of the opinion that for the hospital to survive, it must form a partnership with a hospital chain, but one over which the district has more control of than in its relationship with Camino Healthcare.
The District has an asset base of $14 million, including land, and gives money to charitable activities including immunization and other health-care programs for children.
Hoar, who has worked as an anesthesiologist at El Camino Hospital for 13 years, said Camino Healthcare management has caused the hospital to continuously lose money, and he wants to be a part of restoring the institution's finances. He will put his ideas to work to rebuild a successful hospital, he said.
He will encourage the public to bring the district board its input.
Pollock, who has served on the board since January, wants to have a hand in the hospital's future. Pollock is an non-practicing attorney and manages the medical practice of his wife, dr. Susan Hansen, a neurologist.
Pollock said the hospital can succeed without selling the institution or forming a new partnership.
Cost can be cut in places other than nurses' salaries, he said.
The District will set the direction for the hospital, but the board itself would not be doing the day-to-day administrating of the hospital, Pollock said.
Curatola, a cardiologist at El Camino Hospital for 13 years, decided to run for the office after contracting a post-operative infection and had to spend time in the hospital.
Curatola wants to be able to follow through with what he started as a member of the board four years ago. He is committed to maintaining a high quality of care at the hospital and sensitive to the pressures on nurses.
Nurses need to be a the bedside of patients, Curatola said. It makes no sense to topreserve hospital buildings if the purpose for which the hospital was built is no longer being served, he said.
Bough, also a cardiologist, contended that succesful partnerships between hospital districts and health care corporations have evolved, and not all have had results like the district's partnership with Camino Healthcare. He cites Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City and Eden Township Hospital in Castro Valley as two examples.
In its partnership with Catholic Healthcare West, the Redwood City district retains 50 percent control of Sequoia Hospital; in its partnership with Columbia/HCA, the Castro Valley district retains 50 percent of hospital control as well as maintaining ownership of Eden Township Hospital, Bough said.
Bough maintained that El Camino Hospital can not function as a district hospital and still compete with Stanford Medical Center and other surrounding facilities.
Bough knew he wouldn't be in the majority on the board, but will have the chance to express his views on other options.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 6, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.