The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital endured another setback last week due to an obvious lack of process management.

A meeting was held between commissioners of the hospital district, administration and staff to discuss problems and concerns. The lack of heating and air conditioning was just the tip of the iceberg as issues and concerns were voiced by employees of the hospital. But the bigger question is: Who is in charge and what are they going to do to assure our hospital doesn’t close again?

We, as taxpayers of King County Public Hospital District No. 4, have had to endure two closures of the hospital. Debt was a major part of the last closure and we, as taxpayers, are paying for that debt. What we can’t endure is another closure due to poor communication, a lack of services or a business plan that isn’t realistic. The hospital is essential to the basis of our community and to have it fail is not an option.

So let’s focus on what we taxpayers should request of the commissioners and administration.

First, I urge the commissioners to request an independent audit of the hospital. The focus should be on the business plan, finances, processes, capital requirements and adherence to rules and regulations. If the concern is cost, then it’s obvious the business plan wasn’t realistic in the first place because every business plan should have built in some level of contingency.

For the capital requirements, a complete inspection of all the hospital’s systems should be done by a professional building inspector. All equipment should be inspected and any equipment not in operable condition should be removed from the hospital with a plan for replacement.

All processes should be documented and reviewed by an independent healthcare consultant to ensure the highest quality of patient care. It seems to me that a hospital would want to be assured that patient and equipment processes are completely documented to thwart any risk to patients or staff. This isn’t a case of knowing how to turn on the dishwasher and fill it with soap, this is a case where lives could be at risk.

A plan should be developed for consistent communication between the commissioners, administration and staff. Maybe a monthly roundtable should be scheduled to discuss issues. Employees of the hospital, in many cases, will bring great ideas to the table. The administration and commissioners should be willing to carry out these ideas.

A review of the administration should be conducted by an independent auditor and the findings presented to the commissioners. If concerns are found, they should be dealt with or the administration replaced. Failure to provide proper oversight could lead to the hospital closing again and that is not an option in the eyes of taxpayers.

The tough question is: Do we have the right mix of commissioners? Are they willing to dig into the operation of the hospital and provide policy and procedures that will ensure the successful operation of the hospital in the future? It appears that with no opposition in the recent election, the taxpayers think the commissioners are doing a solid job. But with issues like those raised recently, it wouldn’t surprise me to see some new candidates running for election.

Failure is not an option for our hospital a third time. My fear is that if it closes again, it will never open and the facility will be sold to the highest bidder to cover our debts. The issue is not an individual issue, it is bigger than that. We must ensure success and if need be, get the right people to do the job.