Cannell, Uribe in front of Hospital Dist. No. 1 race
The unofficial results of Tuesday’s contest for seats on the Hospital District No. 1 of Yuma County governing board indicated Robert Cannell and Connie Uribe would serve as the district’s newest members.
If seated, the two will succeed board members Danny Bryant and Tom Thompson, who opted not to retain their seats on the five-member board.
Cannell, one of Yuma’s first pediatricians and recent retiree after more than 50 years in practice, said he chose to vie for a seat in Hospital District No. 1 because of the conflicts between the district’s board and the Yuma Regional Medical Center operating board, which is “not helpful” for the people of Yuma.
As of late, friction between Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) and its landlord Hospital District No. 1 has resulted in disputes that the hospital has “shut out” district board members and violated its agreement to provide the district with monthly “verbal and written” reports regarding topics such as occupancy, staffing, new projects and expenses, according to the Yuma Sun archives.
“It’s not the district board’s job to run the hospital, just to make sure that it’s being fiscally responsible and its properties are kept up,” said Cannell. “There are always two sides to everything, and we need to get the two boards back on the same page. The hospital does need to be more open with information, but it’s not the district board’s place to hold a meeting criticizing the hospital.”
According to a Sept. 16 Facebook post by Uribe, she and candidate Jeremy Claridge were the only two of the six candidates on the ballot who “have no direct ties to YRMC.”
“Yes, I had medical privileges there for over 30 years to practice, but I was never employed nor did I ever serve on the operating board (of directors),” Uribe wrote. “If anything, I butted heads with the operating board and administration more times than I care to remember.”
Uribe was unable to be reached for further comment.
Claridge, a local attorney and first-time political candidate, said he is working with Sen. Lisa Otondo (AZ4) to amend statute ARS 11-624 to impose the same requirements on “a charitable hospital who receives benefits from a hospital district as any nonprofit charity receiving benefits from a county government.”
“It makes perfect sense to me,” Claridge said. “It would require the hospital to be accountable and hopefully curtail some of those things that are going on right now.”