Special filing period opens for Tekoa hospital board

Measure to create rural hospital

district on November ballot

A special three-day filing will be held Aug. 27 through Aug. 29 for anyone interested in applying to be a commissioner of the proposed Hospital District No. 4 in the Tekoa area.

A ballot measure to create a new rural hospital district around Tekoa will be on November’s ballot.

Whitman County elections supervisor Debbie Hooper said Tuesday that candidates will be able to file for a special election that will select five members for the commission that would govern the hospital district, if approved.

Residents can file for one of the posts beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, Aug 27. Hooper said the special filing period will close sharply at 5 p.m. Aug. 29.

Candidates can register in-person at the elections office in Colfax or can contact the office to have a registration form sent via the mail. Hooper stressed mail registration forms must be returned to the elections office by 5 p.m. Aug. 29.

Terms of each of the five seats will be staggered, with the top vote-getter earning a six-year term.

Whitman County commissioners agreed in May to put the measure on the ballot after receiving a petition from residents of the area.

County Coroner Pete Martin, also a licensed physician’s assistant, wants to sell his clinic to the hospital district so operations can continue if he chooses to retires. Martin has said he has no immediate plans to retire.

The new hospital district would have the authority to ask voters to levy up to 50 cents tax on property in the area to fund health care services. The district roughly encompasses the same boundaries as the Tekoa School District.

Martin said a new provider would likely need to come from an existing medical group. Such groups would rather work out of a publicly-owned facility than have the responsibility of owning their own building.