DES MOINES, Iowa — The Polk County 2020 General Election ballot has a lot of races on it— including county hospital trustee positions.
The county hospital is Broadlawns Regional Medical Center in Des Moines. Two seats are up for the non-partisan election. Incumbents Bill Taber, the board's chair, and Kavi Chawla are running against three other people.
The other people are Dave Miglin, Emily Webb and Dylan Lowe.
Before filling out your ballot, it's important to know what being a trustee is and what qualifications need to be met before serving on the board.
The Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) outlines three main duties for a hospital trustee:
- Duty of care
- Duty of loyalty
- Duty of obedience
In short, these duties provide trustees with the guidance they need to stay faithful and competent for the hospital they work at.
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A board can have five or seven members, the IHA says. In 2018, Iowa law made it so members could serve four-year terms instead of six. This is to help hospitals retain and recruit trustees.
There are many responsibilities for hospital trustees when it comes to the hospital's chief executive officer (CEO). The board is responsible for appointing, supporting, challenging and/or evaluating the CEO.
Another big part of the job is exercising what's known as fiduciary duties, which means that trustees are obligated to act solely in the interest of the hospital.
That means a trustee can't have any conflicts of interest. One example is if the trustee's spouse earns more than $1,500 from the hospital.
However, a licensed health care practitioner can be a trustee if their sole use of the county hospital is to do their job as a practitioner.
Other responsibilities include controlling hospital funds, creating policies for free treatment or financial assistance for needy patients, and procuring and paying premiums on any and all insurance policies required for hospital management.
The only requirement to be a trustee is to live in the county where the hospital is at at the time of the election.
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