A Port Townsend woman has filed a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) against Jefferson Healthcare, alleging that hospital employees have been pressured to support hospital commission candidate Bruce McComas.

Eva Raczkowski Bennett, who is supporting candidate Cheri Van Hoover and briefly worked on her campaign, alleges in her complaint, dated Aug. 15 and made public by the PDC on Sept. 5, that as a patient at Jefferson Healthcare, she was “approached by hospital staff to solicit my support for Mr. McComas. When I did not respond positively to such solicitations, I felt that the quality of the care I received might be threatened.”

Bennett does not name the person she says solicited her.

Using public facilities and staff to assist or solicit support for a political campaign is a violation of RCW 42.17A.555. The PDC has asked the hospital to respond to the allegations, and it has until today, Sept. 20, to respond.

McComas, 67, and Van Hoover, 63, are vying for a seat on the Jefferson Healthcare Commission currently held by veteran commissioner Tony DeLeo, who chose not to seek re-election after more than 40 years on the board.

In the Aug. 1 primary, Van Hoover, a health educator and certified midwife who most recently worked for Planned Parenthood in Sequim, held a 451-vote lead over McComas, a former manager at the Port Townsend Paper Corp. mill who was let go in 2008 when new owners took over. That same year, McComas had been named Citizen of the Year in Jefferson County for his contributions to the community. The CEO and president of the mill, John Begley, also was let go a few months before McComas in what was described as a reorganization of management under new owners.

Jefferson Healthcare, with more than 400 employees, is Jefferson County’s largest public employer. The Port Townsend Paper Corp., with 300 employees, is Jefferson County’s largest private employer.

STATUS OF COMPLAINT

Kim Bradford, a spokesperson for the PDC, said Sept. 6 that the PDC had asked Jefferson Healthcare commissioners to respond to Bennett’s complaint by Sept. 12. On Sept. 14, Bradford said the PDC had granted a request by the hospital’s risk manager and public records officer, Rena Sleight, to extend that deadline to Sept. 20.

“Then we look at the response and the complaint, and decide how serious is this allegation and how supported it is by facts,” Bradford said. She said the PDC could go back to Bennett and ask for more information.

“It has not been opened into a formal investigation,” Bradford said of where Bennett’s complaint stands until more information is obtained.

Bradford said there were a number of avenues the PDC could pursue, depending on what it learns, ranging from issuing a warning to returning the complaint to doing a formal investigation if officials believe the complaint might go to PDC commissioners, who meet monthly. There are no deadlines for the PDC to decide which course it may take.

“But if it does involve an issue on the ballot, we try to prioritize those complaints,” Bradford said. “There is no guarantee we can get it done by Nov. 7.”

COMPLAINT

In the complaint, Bennett alleges that several employees of the hospital have told her that they had been “approached and pressured at work, during working hours, to endorse, support the campaign of, and/or attend campaign events in support” of McComas.

She also wrote that hospital employees have been made to “feel uncomfortable in their place of work.” She does not name any hospital employees in the complaint.

“In addition, while a patient at the hospital, I have been approached by hospital staff to solicit my support for Mr. McComas,” she wrote, adding that she felt “that the quality of the care I received might be threatened.”

HOSPITAL RESPONSE

Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn stated in a Sept. 7 email that board chair Jill Buhler forwarded the alleged violation for him to facilitate a review of and respond to.

“I asked Rena Sleight to complete the review and prepare a response,” Glenn wrote. “Rena will share the results of her findings with Jill, and then we will submit to the PDC and take whatever actions the board/admin deem appropriate,” Glenn wrote.

CANDIDATE RESPONSE

McComas said he is concerned about the hospital’s reputation, not his.

As for Bennett’s allegations about hospital employees campaigning on the campus, McComas said, “I only go [to the hospital] for commission and committee meetings. I know I’m not campaigning there.”

McComas said he believes the allegations will be deemed unfounded.

“Sometimes, it’s really difficult. People can make claims that do a lot of damage without repercussions,” McComas said, repeating that he was OK if he experienced a bumpy road on the campaign trail, but he was concerned about the reputation of the hospital.

“I hate to see other people or organizations get dragged in the mud because someone is going after me because of things I believe are not factual,” he said.

Bennett has written several letters to the editor questioning McComas’ experience as manager of the mill. One was published in the Peninsula Daily News on Friday, Aug. 18. The Leader held a letter Bennett submitted in August to give McComas an opportunity to respond.

The PDC complaint is not the only complaint Bennett has filed about McComas.

On Aug. 28, Bennett filed a complaint with the Port Townsend Police Department, alleging that McComas harassed her at the Jefferson County Democrats’ Fish Feast. (See related story above on this page.)

VAN HOOVER RESPONSE

Van Hoover said that she met Bennett in mid-August and that Bennett attended a campaign meeting. At one point, Bennett was to take on an auxiliary role in the campaign, helping someone coordinate letters to the editor, Van Hoover said.

After Bennett’s letter to the editor about McComas and his experience at the mill appeared in the a daily newspaper – Bennett called McComas’ management at the mill “dismal” – Van Hoover said she told Bennett that she was “uncomfortable with the content.”

“She thought it would be best that she not have a role in my campaign, and I agreed with her,” Van Hoover said of Bennett.

As for the letter Bennett wrote in the daily newspaper linking McComas to the bankruptcy of the mill, Van Hoover said, “I’m well aware that association is not causation.”

“I don’t know why he was let go, so I would rather not comment on it and I wouldn’t have written a letter about it because I don’t know,” Van Hoover said.

As for allegations about campaigning at the hospital by McComas supporters, Van Hoover said she had heard from supporters that there has been “campaign activities happening at the hospital.”

“I’ve heard of it off and on from the beginning of the campaign, but I haven’t observed it personally,” she said, adding that she would rather not comment on anything for which she doesn’t have personal and direct knowledge.

Like McComas, Van Hoover said, “I want what’s best for the hospital district. I’d like that made clear.”

Van Hoover called Bennett a smart, passionate woman and “my sense of her is that she is honest.”

Van Hoover also said she was aware that Glenn had sent an email to hospital employees and board members cautioning them against campaign activities at the hospital. She said she had seen that email.