The June 12, 2024 Hospital District Meeting (Democracy in Action)
Almost 90 people by our count attended the June Hospital District meeting, about 50 in the large room at the Community Center and almost 40 on Zoom. During the public comment period, three people associated with the Circle of Care spoke against SuperTrack. Everyone else spoke in support. The public comment period lasted almost 50 minutes, during which Dr. Sean was forced to respond to allegations made by Barb Bradstock (Circle of Care board member) and Annelle Norman (Circle of Care Executive Director) about a twenty-year old business dispute that did not involve medical care. Annelle had previously tried to float this story during Deb Shields' 2020 attempt to displace SuperTrack.
Finally, Commissioner Stephen Falk claims the floor at the 50 minute mark. For the rest of this post, we transcribe (as well as we can based on an audio recording of the Zoom feed) his comments and the attendees’ reactions to them. We identify the commissioners, ourselves, and Dr. Sean by name but refer to other commenters as “attendee”.
Falk: “Being the subject of character assassination is not pleasant. At the May meeting I did not speak up because my general approach to bullying and intimidation is to ignore it rather than giving the bullies the attention they seek. But obviously that’s (inaudible) I’ve been accused of being part of a conspiracy and acting out of personal interest and having a conflict of interest. I have not been part of any conspiracy and I have no interest in the selection of the service provider at the clinic other than the best interest of the community as a whole. I had no social, personal, professional, or financial interest with Shields and company in 2020 and I have no such interest with Dr. Anwar in 2024. I do acknowledge making a mistake in talking to a commissioner outside of a meeting. After a recent meeting, I felt the need to vent about the discussion that had just occurred. I don’t think that constitutes an infraction but whether it does or not I apologize for creating the appearance of an impropriety. That’s the last thing I wanted to do.
“Over my years on the board, I’ve been open to speaking to all comers about the district and the clinic. When I was appointed to the board I met with Shannon and Vic to hear about their concerns at that time. From time to time I’ve heard praise and complaints about SuperTrack from residents who use the clinic. Back in 2020 I heard from Deb Shields about her interest in operating the clinic. Earlier this year I met Dr. Anwar to learn about his current medical practice and his vision for providing care here. I think that all those interactions with the public are appropriate and necessary and a useful role for district commissioners.
“Over the last few weeks we have received many emails supportive of SuperTrack which is good to see. We’ve also had comments supportive of learning about alternative providers. We’ve had relatively few complaints about SuperTrack directly from the patients themselves because they do not want to go public raising issues about the same health care provider they’re going to go… (he was interrupted at this point)
Trying to reclaim the floor, he says, “I would go back to that earlier comment made at this meeting that we treat each other with respect” (he was interrupted again)
At this point, he repeats some of the points he made in his interview with Pat Grubb and which we contradicted here - how he outgrew prejudice for doctors, concerned about SuperTrack's urgent care model applied here because people don’t have continuity with their own doctors - at this point, the crowd started objecting. “That’s not true!” “How can you offer that as an argument?” “You’re not here to just talk about what you want. It’s what the community wants. Period.” “Stephen, you’re supposed to represent us. You’re not elected for yourself but for all of us.”
Stephen tries to regain the floor, but someone says, “Stop saying that you’re hearing what people say. Stop reflecting nonsense! Speak facts!”
An attendee jumps in to demand Stephen’s and Sara’s resignation based on Open Public Meeting Act violations. “What you did was egregious and outside the bounds of the law of the state of Washington. I’m astonished that you did this.” Stephen responds by distinguishing between learning about alternative providers and selecting them. The attendee brings him back to his violations.
Another attendee points out that the superintendent is supposed to do that work. A third says he’s wrong about continuity of doctors. Stephen says he’d be happy to finish his statement because he just has a couple more paragraphs. The third says he’s out of time (Stephen had imposed a two-minute limit on other public comments).
Stephen claims that concerns about hearing from alternative providers are based on a misunderstanding of the current contract which runs on a calendar year basis. He defends the process of hearing from alternative providers in 2020 and now. The first attendee jumps in with, “Stephen, I’m astonished. All of these discussions should have been raised in open meetings!” Another says it was commissioners “gathering information”. “I think it was done from an intent to just see.”
Commissioner Noel Newbolt speaks: “OK, I need to say something here. I’m the one who was excluded. You guys went ahead and opened the door for Dr. Anwar to give us a presentation without talking to me and certainly without talking to Barb. That was so disrespectful. And I told you at the end of that meeting this was really wrong and that’s what I meant by that. .. So this is not about you, this is not about me, this is about them, and what they want. Because we’re here to see that we give the best health care that we possibly can to our community. And I think that’s been done with SuperTrack, and I make a motion that we renew SuperTrack’s contract for a period of five years.”
At this point, the room erupts in applause. People stand and clap, some whoop. It's by far the longest and most vocal reaction in the room. But on Zoom, the audio cuts out - there's silence. One person on Zoom says, “What happened to the sound?”
When it comes back, Noel tries to get Stephen or Sara to second a motion for a four year term. Both say no. Stephen says one year. An attendee says, “You have no respect for the community?” Another says, “How about a motion until there’s another election and someone can take your position and represent the community?”
Commissioner Sara Oggel stands up and starts addressing Stephen: “I didn’t recall you said all that. I think all you said was you were unhappy, that you would like to schedule something to have Dr. Anwar to make a presentation. I assume when we ended that brief conversation walking the dog (Editor's note: This is a violation) that you would hook up with Barb (inaudible) and Vic published that I agreed with what was published in the paper, all I said was that I agreed with hearing what somebody else had to say as long as we’re not making a decision, as long as we can hear and figure out what’s going on. I didn’t say anything in the meeting because I’m still doing my research, I wanted to look at some other information, that’s why I didn’t respond, everybody’s jumping on saying you’re doing this, you’re going to vote for this person, you’re going to vote for that person, I haven’t said what I’ve voted on. You know? Wow. Some of my friends I’ve told, you know how I’m voting, and it’s not for somebody new, but you all just go down our throat with Stephen and me assuming that’s what’s going to happen. And it’s been passed around by a lot of you out there who say negative stuff about us. Why don’t you wait until we get to a meeting and talk about it? Shame on you sometimes! But I thank everybody for coming in, thanks for all your letters because we all need that, thanks for being here tonight.”
Noel tries to get back to her motion. Stephen says if they take no action it’ll renew. Sara brings up a two-year old letter that she just received from a Canadian complaining about the lack of eye wash stations at the fire department, saying the woman was refused care at the fire station and clinic, and says she has to do more research on it. She can’t decide on SuperTrack's contract because she just got this letter and needs to follow up on it. She needs to talk to the fire department, she needs to talk to Dr. Sean. Can we get an eye wash stand? She doesn’t know. Noel tries to interrupt to get her back on track. Sara says she just got the letter today.
Dr. Sean tries to jump in but there’s a motion on the table so no one else is really supposed to speak until it’s resolved. An attendee tries to jump in: “Excuse me please … don’t mute me. Please stop over-talking me… Any motion that we pass here has no force. The decisions are only made by the board of the hospital district. This is a reflection of the needs of the community … The decisions that were made to bring Anwar were illegal! Absolutely freaking illegal!”
Vic asks what the status of the motion is. Noel replies, “I asked for five, they said no. I asked for four, they said no. I asked for three, they said no. If we do nothing, the contract will renew for one year… I disagree with the one year because it’s ridiculous. Trying to hire people, trying to continue with a business with a one-year contract makes no sense. And you’re listening to the people here, Stephen. They don’t want a one-year. They want more than a one-year. So there’s the motion. I need a second.”
Stephen: “Well, you’re probably not getting a second.”
An attendee suggests making a motion to hold Noel’s motion for the next meeting. Noel suggests deciding now to renew for one year. Sara says she needs to finish her research and someone prompts her to make a motion to hold Noel’s motion for the next meeting, which she does.
There’s general discussion - questions about the contract renewal, discussion about the fire department.
Finally, Dr. Sean speaks: “Regarding quality assurance, Sara, you can’t just stand up and yell at us and say you got a letter that two years ago somebody was refused care. Any quality assurance program… you have to give us details, you have to give us names, there has to be an investigation. We have to be partners on this, and you guys just throw these hearsay things around, you can’t say somebody complained, we can’t do anything with that. We can’t improve ourselves.”
Sara says she just got the letter. Stephen says people won’t disclose their names. (Editor’s note: This appears to be based on three letters from Annelle Norman claiming to represent people who have complained to her but would not complain to the district. One of these was received on May 6, the day after we published our first report detailing Stephen’s and Deb Shields’ ongoing attempts to displace SuperTrack. These letters are reproduced below.)
Dr. Sean: “Stephen, I have a question for you. I listened to your statement. Why did you help Deb Shields while she was working for us to present her PowerPoint to the commission? Why did you help her make a case against her employer?”
Stephen: “I heard her on the side, I heard what she wanted to do, I gave her an opportunity to speak to the board…”
Dr. Sean: “Stephen, why did you help her with making a PowerPoint? Don’t you see that that’s a conflict of interest?”
Stephen: “I didn’t help her make it, I saw it at the time, I got it in time and gave her some comments…”
(Editor’s note: Here’s Stephen’s email proving otherwise:)
(Also, see our main story for the full timeline and evidence we have so far.)
Dr. Sean: “Stephen, that is illegal. You’ve been undermining us the whole time. It’s like, I can’t believe you just sit there and say this nonsense. You made it difficult for us to function. She was our employee…. and you helped her make a case, while she was getting paid by us, to take the contract away from us.”
Stephen: “Yeah… good point… I don’t see it that way.”
Dr. Sean: “And you say you don’t read the evidence that’s out there. You’ve told us you don’t read. I read everything carefully.”
Stephen: “I lived it. Thank you, Dr. Sean.”
Chaos ensues for a few moments. Then someone asks: “What is preventing us from doing a three-year contract? I think that’s pretty reasonable.”
Stephen: “My concern is the same as when we talked about this two years ago, I don’t know if you were in the meeting, we could have a one year, I’m happy with it the way it is, it also helps preserve flexibility…”
Someone says, “As a business owner, for us, if there’s insecurity… when you have a lease, you have some security on both ends… I just want an answer.”
Stephen seconds Sara’s motion to table the discussion until the next meeting. “If we take no action today, the contract will renew.”
Someone says, “It seems like you’re holding us hostage.”
Another says, “When can we vote you out?”
Shannon replies, “Stephen’s up for election November 2025.”
Someone says ,“I just don’t understand what the concern is about this one Canadian two years ago. With all these people here saying they want to keep their doctors, it just seems out of balance to me….”
Sara: “I just want to have a conversation with Dr. Sean and the fire commissioners… we got this letter two days ago….”
Again, chaos ensues….
Shannon says, “Why did they wait two years to submit the letter? Is this a ploy to delay?”
Stephen: “I think the outcome of this meeting is that we’ll renew the contract… we’ll discuss this at the next meeting…”
Vic says, “Are you hoping people won’t show up at the next meeting?”
In the end, two attendees force the commissioners to commit that they will not hold a special meeting to cancel SuperTrack’s contract, ensuring that it will continue through 2025, and to address Noel’s motion to extend SuperTrack contract period at the next meeting.
That next meeting is on July 10. SuperTrack’s 2025 contract is not fully secure until June 30 passes with no further action by the board.
Annelle has submitted several letters of complaint to the district. In some, she represents herself as speaking for Circle of Care and in some not. In 2020, Deb Shields was let go in June after SuperTrack discovered that she was preparing a competing proposal. Annelle was "stunned" but apparently didn't understand how at-will employment works in Washington State:
In 2021, she submitted this complaint on behalf of someone who apparently wouldn't complain herself:
And, by sheer coincidence, she submitted this to the district on May 6 of this year, the day after we published our account of Deb Shields' and Stephen Falk's ongoing attempts to displace SuperTrack:
Apparently, these are the basis for Stephen's assertion, as if it were fact, that people won't complain directly and identify themselves to the district. In Stephen's interview with Pat Grubb in the June All Point Bulletin, he says:
"Most want to remain anonymous because they are voicing dissatisfaction with the same practice (and doctor, if they happen to hit the same day of the week) they are going to have to see again the next time they need care. This creates a bit of a 'Catch 22' because our superintendent chooses to discount all anonymous complaints as inherently unreliable simply because they are anonymous. While it could be possible to game the system under the shadow of anonymity, I certainly do not believe that that has happened to date with any of the complaints we have received, and I do not believe our community members would engage in that 'mischief.'"
Again, we provide responses to all of the points of his statement here.
Update June 17: The full audio can now be found on the Hospital District web site. It's a zip file. In order to hear it, download it to your desktop or wherever you put downloaded files, then double-click on it. This will extract the actual audio file which is a .m4a file. You can then double-click on that to play it in your media player.
