League of Women Voters will host July forum for Sarasota County hospital board candidates

The League of Women Voters of Sarasota County will host a candidate forum for the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board primary on July 11.

The League, which has already hosted an April 8 panel discussion on the role of the hospital board, had originally not planned on holding a forum prior to the primary but changed tack after receiving several queries from the many of 115 people who attended that forum.

League President Shawn Bartelt said she also consulted with other League of Women Voters groups around the state and learned that they too scheduled forums prior to primaries. This year's primary is Aug. 20.

The nine-member public hospital board sets policy for the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, which includes all Sarasota Memorial Hospital campuses, related healthcare facilities and clinics and First Physicians Group.

The hospital system is Sarasota County’s largest employer, with 10,000 workers who deal with about 1.5 million patient visits each year through all of its facilities and physician practices.

The partisan hospital board races had historically been low-profile prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted a “Health Freedom” slate of candidates to run for four of five seats in 2022.

That movement resulted in the 2022 election of three of four “health freedom” candidates to the board and an ensuing upheaval in meetings dealing with the hospital's approach to COVID care and, more recently, a push to embrace vaccine skepticism.

If two like-minded candidates win seats this year, that would create a majority of health freedom/medical freedom proponents on the nine-member board.

Who will be eligible to speak at the forum?

This year, a group of “medical freedom” candidates have filed to run for the board, as has another medical freedom advocate, Dr. Stephen Guffanti, whose complaints about how he was treated while a COVID-19 patient at SMH helped fuel the push in 2022.

Currently one of the four seats on the ballot is a universal primary, with Republican incumbent Hospital Board Chairwoman Sarah Lodge challenged by medical freedom candidate Tanya Parus. If no Democrat files for that seat prior to June 14, that race will be decided in August.

Democrats  Alan Jerome Sprintz, John A. Lutz and George Davis filed for At-Large seats 1 through 3 respectively.

Those filings create a closed primary for At-Large Seat 1 between incumbent Sharon Wetzler DePeters and medical freedom candidate Tamzin Rosenwasser; a three-way closed primary for At-Large Seat 2 between Kevin Cooper, Guffanti and medical freedom candidate Dr. Kendra Becker-Musante; and a closed primary for At-Large Seat 3 between Pam Beitlich, who will retire from her role as executive director of Women & Children’s Services at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, and medical freedom candidate Mary Flynn O’Neill, who is the sister of former President Donald Trump's first national security advisor Michael Flynn.

Bartelt said the forum will feature only the nine Republican candidates. It has been scheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m. July 11 for Frances T. Bourne Jacaranda Library, 4143 Woodmere Park Boulevard, Venice.

The forum will be followed by a 30-minute meet-and-greet session. for those present.

Registration is required and will be available after June 14 at the League's website: https://www.lwvsrq.org.

Prior to the League candidate forum, the Sarasota Tiger Bay Club plans to host a forum for At-Large Seat 1 and Seat 3 candidates on June 6; and a forum for A-Large Set 2 and Central Seat 1 candidates on June 20.

More information on those forums can be found at https://sarasotatigerbay.com.

Will there be other League-sponsored primary forums?

The League of Women Voters plan to host a candidate forum for the nonpartisan Sarasota County School Board race from 5:30 to 7 p.m. July 17, at the Jacaranda Library and for the Sarasota County Commission District 1 race, which is currently scheduled to be decided in a universal primary between Republicans Alexandra Coe and Teresa Mast from 5:30 to 7 p.m. July 22 at Selby Public Library, 1221 First Street, Sarasota.

Online registration for those forums will be required at the League's website after June 14. All three forums will be webcast on the League's Facebook page.

Bartelt said the League opted against hosting a primary candidate forum for the County Commission District 3 closed Republican primary between incumbent Neil Rainford and former Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight, because the winner is scheduled to face non-party affiliate candidate Sharon Kay Thornton in November.

So far incumbent Ron Cutsinger has not seen a candidate file to oppose him in the County Commission District 5 race.

According to the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections  Office website, as for May 6, a total of 324,091 people are registered to vote in Sarasota County – 150,975 Republicans, 87,037 Democrats and 86,079 with no party affiliation.

Only Republicans can vote in the closed primaries.

The County Commission District 1 forum is scheduled for the evening of the same day voter registration closes.

Other than that, voters will have time to view the forums prior to the 5 p.m. Aug. 8 deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot, as well as early voting, which will be from Aug. 10 through Aug. 18.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: League of Women Voters to host July 11 forum for SMH board candidates