Kirkland residents Ivars Zageris and incumbent Jeanette Greenfield are vying for the EvergreenHealth board of commissioners position No. 5 seat this November.
As a public hospital district, EvergreenHealth Medical Center is governed by five commissioners. Commissioner District position No. 5 represents the community at large, which includes the cities of Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, Kenmore and Duvall, portions of Bothell, Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Sammamish, Lake Forest Park and the town of Yarrow Point, as well as adjacent unincorporated areas. The board of commissioners is expected make decisions on the hospital’s budget, policy and hiring the CEO, among other duties.
A self-proclaimed lifelong learner, small business owner and therapist, Zageris’s vision is to help transform EvergreenHealth Medical Center from a good community hospital into a great regional medical center and clinic network by taking it to the “next level,” according the King County voters’ pamphlet.
Zageris believes a vote in this publicly-elected position will enable him to help the community by expanding and enhancing the birth center, and the cardiovascular, cancer and diabetes areas, among others, according to the pamphlet.
The Reporter was unable to contact Zageris for comment as there was no contact information listed in the voters’ pamphlet or with the Public Disclosure Commission.
Greenfield, who has been on the EvergreenHealth board of commissioners for 15 years, said she will continue to provide high quality care, manage revenue cycles and “create processes to control spiraling costs” during a time when health care services are at a “critical juncture of transformation,” she states in the voters’ pamphlet.
“Huge change is on the way,” Greenfield told the Reporter. “The solutions are the question because we don’t know what the affect is. We don’t know what Congress is doing, we don’t know how employers will react.”
Greenfield is a retired banker and has 30 years of nonprofit management to buffer her time spent on boards and committees within the King County Children and Family Commission, the Eastside Human Services Forum and King County United Way.
Zageris said his experience comes from his published studies on medical economies and early childcare centers he did as a research economist. He specifically notes his study of financial and educational trends in universities relating to funding of health-related research.
“His knowledge of health care is coupled with his love for children, his love for the elderly and common sense,” according to the voters’ pamphlet. “This unique combination is why he is a practicing therapist, coaching his patients to achieve their full physical and behavioral performance levels.”
Quality patient care, customer service, patient satisfaction, recruitment and retention of the “best” staff and expense and tax containment are a few of the ways Zageris plans to achieve operational performance.
Greenfield said she will continue to advocate for tight fiscal accountability, flexibility in developing partnerships and alliances and maintain the hospital’s viability in the district while retaining independence.
She said some accomplishments she’s been a part of on the board include reducing resident’s taxes by $900,000 a year and obtaining a Leapfrog “A” rating in hospital safety, among others.
Aside from the uncertainty with health care reform, Greenfield said she anticipates a future problem to include managing childhood obesity in a time when many schools are dropping their athletic programs.
Greenfield received her M.B.A. and legal strategies certification from City University and was a member of the Evergreen Community Advisors program for 14 years before she was appointed to the board to fill a vacancy in 1998.
For more information about the candidates, visit www.kingcounty.gov/elections/currentelections/201311/candidates.aspx.
Editor’s note: Ivars Zageris’s photo was unavailable.
