As a member of the Valley Medical Center Medical Staff and Southlake Clinic, also known as Valley Internal Medicine, since 1982, I have generally not paid much attention to the elections for Board of Commissioners, and only once have I endorsed a candidate. But I care deeply about the quality of care and services provided by “my hospital”. Over the years, I have watched the hospital’s services grow, sometimes smoothly and sometimes erratically. But the breadth of services has expanded and the quality of care has steadily improved, while the population served by Valley Medical has grown. Like the rest of the medical staff, I consider it crucial that these patterns continue. And as a pragmatist, I realize that a quality board of commissioners is necessary for this goal.

As the elections near, I have pondered what qualities are vital to an effective board. A hospital commissioner needs a strong sense of the community as well as a selfless devotion to the health care needs of the community, placing those needs above self-advancement and ego. A commissioner must not only be knowledgeable about the operations and finances of the hospital, but he/she should be held to the highest ethical standards and be known for integrity and strength of character.

In my opinion and that of many members of the Valley medical staff, Mike Miller is the only candidate running for the Board that meets these standards. Although, as a physician, I naturally think that another physician might add depth to the Board, Mike Miller’s opponent Aaron Heide is not the right physician.

In November, I would strongly recommend that voters in the district cast their vote for Mike Miller and re-elect him to the Board of Commissioners for Public Hospital District No. 1.

Terence A. Block,

MD, FACC