Dear Mr. Tom Jensen and the Hospital Board of Commissioners.

I think the community deserves some answers.

It has been about two years since we voted on the formation of the public hospital district. In this time we have seen quite a few changes, and they don’t seem to be for the better.

Before Mr. Jensen took over as CEO for Community Hospital, the quality of service offered was outstanding. The hospital was flourishing. The work place culture being cultivated at the hospital was one of professionalism and care for the community.

During Mr. Jensen’s time at the hospital all of the progress that took place just vanished. We are seeing longer waits in the emergency room, patients being denied service due to them being too costly to treat, areas of the hospital being extremely understaffed and the list is endless.

And let’s not forget to mention that a lot of the potential patients who are unhappy end up down the road at a hospital helmed by none other than Jensen’s wife.

Some of these problems are extremely troubling as a few units at the hospital meet the criteria for the highest level of care, and yet patients are routinely being denied service or sent elsewhere. Most of this wouldn’t be much of a surprise had the formation of the public hospital not been ushered along by the “promise” of preserving the quality of care the hospital offered in the past.

In prior public communications Jensen stated the main problem the hospital faced was budget deficits, and he blamed the struggling local economy.

I am not so sure that can be blamed at this point. It appears to be nothing more than mismanagement of resources at the highest level of administration.

What is one of the main issues at the hospital? Staffing! We are now seeing most of the staff at the hospital being denied a fair contract with the main reason for that being financial resources. However, Jensen himself was approved a raise to his already substantial income.

There was the creation of a CMO position. Now the hospital is forming a re-branding committee which will cost money, not to mention most of the people in the community would probably find completely unnecessary.

So I am finding it hard to believe that budget restrictions factor into the bargaining discussion.

What I am noticing with the contract negotiations is nothing more than union busting tactics used by many organizations before.

One thing that is not realized is that the hospital is one of the main driving forces to the local economy. Denying staff fair wages is denying the community a strong economy.

Ms. Maryann Welch, the commissioner for Central Park, was reluctant to answer any questions when contacted. Many of the recent decisions at the hospital have a large group of citizens questioning the reasoning behind them. With no real apparent answers given to date, I ask for it now.

The community awaits your response.

James Rogers

Central Park.