Candidate interview with Steve Matheson, running for Kootenai Hospital District Board of Trustees.
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I think the Board of Trustees is
a fiduciary for every
stakeholder in the community.
That obviously includes the
patients, the physicians, the
nurses, the administrative
staff, but everybody else that
lives here in the community so
they are supposed to be
overseeing the operations of the
hospital and making sure that
the hospital is going down the
direction that our community
wants. Welcome to
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Idaho speaks where issues take
shape. Welcome to Idaho speaks,
we are continuing our endeavor
to interview the candidates. And
with me in studio today. I'm
talking with Steve Matheson, he
is running for the coatney
Hospital District Board of
Trustees. Steve, thanks so much
for coming in studio today. My
pleasure. So let's let's just
kick this off with the all
important question without going
too much into qualifications
just yet. Tell the listeners of
Idaho speaks about you, your
your background, how long you've
lived in Idaho, etc.
Sure, you know, it's an
interesting story, how I came to
northern Idaho, I grew up in
Seattle. And when my wife and I
were newly married, we came over
here because we were poor, just
traveling around. And she had
had some friends that had moved
to northern Idaho, actually on
Hayden Lake, and she had babysat
for them. So we look them up.
And they took us out on Hayden
lake. And it was really
interesting. And I turned to her
and I said, you know, one day,
after we've made our money and
can pick a place to live, this
would be someplace I'd like to
return to. And it's interesting,
the lake that we were on, we
went to an old Marina, we
actually bought a house, a
stone's throw away from that
Marina, and I can look over
across the lake and see the
house where we visited. And it's
just kind of I smile, often
thinking about how the world
works sometimes. And then my
wife and I, we are actually
eighth grade sweethearts, we met
in seventh grade. You don't hear
much about that anymore. And we
got married. I've traveled
around the country for
businesses, investment banks and
commercial banks. And then about
14 years ago, I was financially
in a position to retire. And I
thought, Well, where do I want
to go. And we put the kids in
the van. And we drove across the
United States. And we took three
weeks. And I had about five
different locations that we
visited. And coralayne was at
the top of the list. So we wrap
things up over in Chicago,
that's where we were and moved
to coralayne. And I've been here
ever since.
Yeah, and my wife and I similar
story. We we've moved here on
purpose, because once it's kinda
like a slice of heaven. So
outstanding. What, let's talk a
little bit about the position
that you're running for. What is
the role of the kootenay?
hospital District Board of
Trustees? And how do they serve
the citizens of coatney? County?
I think that's actually the most
important question to ask any
candidate is, you know, why are
you running and this is why I'm
running. I think the Board of
Trustees is a fiduciary for
every stakeholder in the
community. That obviously
includes the patients, the
physicians, the nurses, the
administrative staff, but
everybody else that lives here
in the community. So they are
supposed to be overseeing the
operations of the hospital and
making sure that the hospital is
going down the direction that
our community wants it to go to.
And one of the things that I've
pointed to in a lot of my
literature, and the reason why
Ryan is I think that the board
has lost sight of that
responsibility, and they seem to
be making every decision with
the lens of Okay, what's best
for the hospital instead of
what's best for the community.
And as a result, they've made
some decisions over the last
couple of years that I disagree
with as we spoke earlier, I
think it's a wonderful
institution. I'm very proud of
it. I think each and every one
of the trustees president and
pass should be congratulate
congratulated, as well as the
management team over at kootenay
health. However, we seem to be
at a crossroads right now. And I
think that's the direction that
we choose to go forward from
this point on is extremely
important. And you may or may
not know, or the listeners may
not know my involvement. I have
run once before unsuccessfully.
I also got heavily involved in
the creation of the urban
renewal district around the
hospital, it's called the health
corridor for a number of
different reasons. And maybe we
have time to go into a lot of
those. But, again, the reason
why I'm running is a an hour,
the reason why the hospital
trustees is so important is they
have to be sure to be listening
to what the community wants, not
what the hospital wants, or what
the hospital needs.
So you mentioned that they
they've made some mistakes, can
you elaborate?
Well, and I'm not even sure this
is a mistake, but there is a lot
of confusion going out there.
And I've listened to some of the
podcasts that the other three
candidates have talked about,
specifically the incumbents. And
they came up with a vision
statement for kootenay Health a
couple years ago, and might even
been more recently, I don't
remember it off the top of my
head, but it basically states
that they want to boldly lead
this community in establishing a
facility here, that is a premier
medical destination. Now, he got
that idea concept from the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, which is a
world class world renowned
institution. I don't think
there's anybody that can say
that they're better than that. I
think the actual vision
statement should be we should be
a high quality. Maybe even we
can use the word premium, or
premiere as I think they use.
But it should be local. And we
should be trying to compete with
those hospitals across the
border over in Washington State.
And hopefully, we can compete
and beat them. So I'm all for a
high quality medical institution
that is a hospital that people
in the surrounding areas, the
Inland Northwest, Eastern
Washington, western Montana,
northern Idaho, will want to
come for their services. And
then obviously for our
community, Cook County, all the
facilities that we need,
including, you know, doctors and
trauma centers and things like
that, and we can talk more. The
idea of a destination Medical
Center, I think is is just a
little bit off face. And as I've
heard the incumbents speak
recently, I think they're
starting to acknowledge that
maybe they stubbed their toe
just a little bit, and probably
need to correct that
communication, and focus on
becoming the best quality
regional medical facility that
we possibly can here in Coeur
d'Alene, Idaho.
Now for the listeners and and I
shared this with the other two
interviews as well. In fact,
just this last week, I had an
experience at coatney Hospital.
Prior to this, it was through my
wife but me myself I I had a
stroke last week. So I was
firsthand, experiencing the care
that kidney hospital gives and
and I think it's excellent care.
But I think what happens is, as
listeners as voters, we lose
track of the fact that the
things that are being voted on
right now are decisions that are
going to impact the near future.
The things that are a little
ways out the things that are
going to be a radical difference
from where we are at this moment
in time. Can you talk a little
bit about maybe a few of the
decisions that they've made that
you think jeopardize the
potential success of being a
great Regional Medical Center?
Well, let me address it first by
talking about the health
corridor and the creation of the
urban renewal district. I know
there's gonna be many listeners
out there that said, well,
Steve, you're the one that was
fighting against that. And
that's not actually true. The
issue that I had was I don't
think that they had sufficient
arguments for the creation of
the urban renewal district for
the hospital at that time.
Because they were talking about
destination medical centers, and
I think as we just spoke, it's a
little bit off base. So I think
the use of urban renewal
districts is actually a good
idea. And the hospital's use of
it is probably near the top of
the justifications for it. So I
would agree with that, to give
you some comparisons Rochester
and in the Mayo Clinic created
an urban renewal district, and
they created one that is going
to generate $3.5 billion of tax
revenue to help facilitate
expansion. In addition to that,
the hospital itself is going to
add another 1.5 billion, the
urban rural district that we
created here, is going to
generate about $46 million. So
if we're going to go down a path
of creating a huge or attempt to
compete with institutions like
that, I think that we're going
to be building infrastructure
around the hospital that is not
going to be supported by the
patients that I think they're
targeting. They need to again,
focus on just becoming a
Regional Medical Center, and
focusing on those people that
live in this community.
So let's talk about your
qualifications. What are the
your qualifications for the
position you're currently
running for?
Well, I'm bringing in I think
this is important that if you
look at the consistency of the
existing board, I should say
that composition. We have three,
two medical physicians on the
board. Today, we have a retired
hospital administrator. We have
two nurses, I believe the
medical profession is more than
well represented. I think that
the composition, the board has
to diversify and have some
experiences skill sets. Beyond
that I bring to the table,
financial experience and
governance experience. I have
undergraduate degrees in
accounting and finance and
business administration. I was a
registered municipal advisor,
certified public accountant, I
manage the financial credit and
regulatory risk of a $40 billion
portfolio. I also had risk
oversight of a $2 billion fixed
income portfolio. I've met with
hundreds, if not 1000s of
companies the size of kootenay
Health with complex financial
statements and balance sheets. I
think that my experience at the
county Treasury, which where I
manage $100 million Treasury, I
collect and distribute $150
million of property taxes, and
distribute that to over 50
different individual taxing
districts, including urban
renewal agencies. And if the
hospital were ever to collect
property taxes, they would be
one too. So in a nutshell, what
I would like to do is bring that
financial expertise to the
complexity of kidney health,
which is now a $750 million
revenue company. In addition,
I'd like to bring the governance
expertise that I've obtained
well at the county treasurer's
department. And that's one of
the things I guess I can see the
most improvement. I've had issue
with the board over my last
election, the creation of the
urban renewal district, and even
this election, for example. The
board decided to require all
candidates to submit a
questionnaire I I pointed out to
them that that's an election
airy law. It's governed by the
state of Idaho legislature and
they can make requests of
candidates but they can't
require not a big deal. In fact,
I think it's an excellent idea
to go ahead and have candidates
explain why they're doing this.
But it's approaching and
arrogance that I've seen at the
board that I think what needs to
be tapped down with. In addition
to that. The four weeks leading
up to the actual filing deadline
for the trustee race, Cooney
health decided to publish a full
a full page color ad in the
coralayne Press, touting all the
accomplishments of the trustees
and the incumbent ones that were
running. I don't think that's a
wise use of hospital resources
and the timing of that I felt
was extremely suspect. In
addition, when I researched the
Ron last time as a hospital
trustee, I interviewed many of
these board members trustee
members. And they kept on
emphasizing the collegiality of
the board. We all get along. And
I think that's great. But I also
think that there needs to be
some respectful and debate on
the issues and the decisions
they're making. And I just
didn't see that happening
couldn't occur. I've met with
john das, who is the chairman of
Cooney health, he's a
outstanding CEO. We're very
lucky to have him here. However,
in my assessment, I didn't see
the dynamics on the existing
board with enough personality to
challenge john nez, and his
management team. So we have made
decisions at the hospital, like
a destination Medical Center,
that I think should be
scrutinized just a little bit
more, before we go down that
path.
So let me see if I can
synthesize what you just shared
with the listeners, the the
current board of trustees set
forth an election change, a
requirement for running for the
office, that A has never been
done before. And B is not legal
based on what American election
law is stipulated. They put
forth a requirement that you
complete this questionnaire in
order to run is that correct?
In the questionnaire itself. And
when we submitted our petitions
for candidate C, it was very
clearly articulated that you
were required to complete this
questionnaire. Now, being the
type of person I am, I took the
opportunity to point out that
flaw in my response in the
questionnaire, and I had fun
doing that. But yes, the
hospital has since reversed that
position. No longer is it a
requirement. But candidates are
now invited to submit their
questionnaire, which is exactly
where we should have been. It's
a minor issue, I don't want to
spend a lot of time, it might
have even been just some lower
level person making a decision.
I don't think it was. But it
just demonstrates kind of the
attitude that I think the board
has been presenting, for
example, another situation. For
you to actually speak at the
board, you have to contact them
seven days in advance. To speak
about the topics that they want
to know we're going to have on
the agenda. Well, the agenda
isn't posted until three days
prior to the meeting. So it
makes it challenging at best to
determine when you want to
approach the board on any agenda
item. Because you have to wait
until they've had the meeting,
voted on the issue. And then the
next month, come back and
address them given the way
they've designed up or they are
governing governing themselves.
That just doesn't seem right to
me.
Now, one thing that I noticed as
I was preparing for these
interviews, I do a lot of
research, visit the websites and
I read everything that I can
read. I didn't find any meeting
minutes for past board meetings.
Is that
was it by just not looking in
the right place? Or? Or did I
miss him? No, I and I was
experienced that frustration as
well. You have to contact a
generic email, submit your
questions, and then you'll get a
response. And if it's actually a
public records request for
minutes, or agenda item for
anything else, you're put down
kind of a certain path. And I
know the election. I mean, I
know the public records law and
the Open Meetings laws very
well. And I'd hope because I am
the person that has to manage
that for the county Treasury. It
doesn't work the way it should
be most public institutions
actually publish all that stuff
online. So anyone interested can
actually access it?
Well, and that's kind of why I
asked the question. I mean, I've
served as a city councilor, I've
been in office, and I've gone
through the public meetings, law
training courses. And the fact
that the information isn't
readily available for the public
to see kind of makes me a little
bit suspicious right out of the
gate. And then you you share
with us the fact that you have
to submit your question in
writing seven days before the
meeting, which is coincidentally
four days before they even
publish the agenda. Right?
Doesn't seem to be like they're
putting the citizens of kidney
county in the playing field.
I agree. And then another thing
that again, given my background
in finance and accounting
Alright, try to track down what
is called the Kaffir,
consolidated financial
statements of the institution
itself, it is extremely
difficult to find, typically,
because they knew who I am,
they'll get back to me. But it
takes two weeks, the financial
statements should be on their
website. So anybody can look at
what's going on, not only in
their income statement, their
balance sheet, how much leverage
they have the borrowings,
they've taken out their
investment portfolio, any
issues. I mean, the list goes on
and on and on. And for a
citizen, make a request, and it
takes two weeks, and they know
who I am. I can't even imagine
what a normal citizen would have
to go through to get financial
information on the hospital.
So let's dive into the last
question here. If elected, what
would be your top two or three
goals for your six year term?
Well, the transparency that
we've already talked about, but
primarily it's this vision
statement, I think needs to be
revised. I think we're going
down the wrong path. We need to
be calm, a quality regional
medical facility that can
compete with the hospitals
across the border. That would be
the primary goal of mine going
forward.
You know, looking at the region,
North Idaho, kootenay. County.
There's a maximum size right
there. There's this isn't going
to be a population of 700,000
likes Spokane, right? I hope
not. So we're looking at this is
going to be its own version of
whatever kootenay County is
going to allow to grow once with
the whole prairie is Brill built
out, what do you estimate the
total population, reasonable
population might be?
Well, the last numbers that I
saw kootenai County, just the
geographic boundaries of the
county itself, was about
162,000. I think most of the
projections over the next 20
years doesn't quite approach
gobbling it, but it's going to
be close.
So we're talking somewhere
around 400,000 max population,
what sort of medical facility is
required to support a population
of 400,000? And I asked that
question, having come from
Silicon Valley, California,
having come from Portland,
Oregon, where we're dealing not
with hundreds of 1000s. But
millions of people, what sort of
medical facility Do we need to
have here to support the long
term vision in growth,
I still believe it can be a
community owned hospital, we
don't need to sell to a bigger
conglomerate. I think we can
manage it prudently. Like we
have over the last since 1955,
or 56, we are going to have to
make some difficult decisions.
For example, right now, the
trauma center probably needs to
be elevated to a trauma to
center and that's a designation
nationally by the I think that
group is called the American
College of Surgeons or something
like that. So that trauma to
center probably needs to happen
soon, maybe the next decade.
That's an expense that will have
to be incurred probably by
either taxpayers, or by patients
through you know, the fees and
expenses they incur. There's
another thing that's going to
happen as we grow to that size,
there's going to be an indigent
care provided by the hospital
that is going to become
burdensome. How we pay for that
burden of indigent care,
especially with the things going
on in the state legislature, and
how the counties are being
exited from that responsibility
needs to be addressed. So that's
going to be a significant issue,
how our community wants to pay
for that indigent care as we
become a 400,000. metropolitan
area, because it will happen and
it has to be addressed.
Well, Steve, I appreciate you
coming on. Is there any any
final thoughts you wish to share
with the listeners?
Yeah, I would. I'd like to share
a little bit about what has
happened in this particular
race. I was hoping to run and
stand on my own two feet, my own
credentials and what I brought
to the table, and unfortunately,
what has happened is that this
has become more about the
individuals and the
organizations supporting the
candidates, then the candidates
themselves and it's interesting,
I had an opportunity to visit
with some of the other
Candidates, primarily the two
incumbents, and Dr. McFarland.
And I don't know if this is true
or not. But I got the sense from
Dr. MacFarlane when he was
speaking that he wanted to also
stand on his own two feet, stand
on his background, his
reputation, education. And it's
an excellent background and
reputation. But because I
believe the coralayne Press got
involved and create an issue
that wasn't really an issue he
chose or hat felt he needed to
choose to join a slate. And as a
result, now what we're doing is
we're losing sight of the
qualifications of the
candidates, and the civic
discourse that should be taking
place about what each candidate
wants to do. And instead we're
bickering about who is endorsing
whom, and what organization is
doing what. And I think we're
all diminished. As a result of
it. I'm really disappointed in
your involvement or the role
that the coralayne Press played
in this.
Well, thank you so much, Steve.
Steve Matheson running for
kootenay Hospital District Board
of Trustees. Really appreciate
you coming on the show today.
My pleasure. Sign up your sons
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