OTHELLO — John Lallas and Martha Logan are running for Position 2 on the Othello Community Hospital Board. The position was left open in March, when former board member Shirley McCullough resigned. Lallas and Logan both applied for the open job, and Lallas was appointed to the board in June. The Columbia Basin Herald provided questions to both candidates, but Logan did not respond. Candidates had a 150-word limit for responses to each question. 

What made you decide to run for the hospital board? 

Lallas: I have been a city councilman for the city of Othello for the past 12 years 3 terms; I believe in term limits and have decided not to run for another term.  I still want to serve the community in some way; I was encouraged by people to run for the open position on the Othello Community Hospital board so I decided to run for the position. In the interim, I have interviewed for the open position and have been selected from other applicants. I have been sworn in as an interim Board member. 

What qualifications do you think you have for the job?   

Lallas: 32 years of work experience in a corporate structure creating and maintaining budgets for the department that I managed. I have also had 12 years on the Othello City Council where I attended multiple conferences for governmental funding seminars where you learn of governmental departments and the grants they have available for various city projects and improvements. As a council member, I served on 6 committees, participating in the development of each department and its funding through the annual budget process. I have attended numerous trips to Olympia to meet with state Legislators and discussed the direction of the city of Othello.   

What do you think are the two or three biggest challenges facing OCH?   

Lallas: 1) Financially keeping OCH in the black, bad debt can and does sometimes exceed revenue generated. 

2) Public perception of the OCH, the experience each individual has with the Hospital. 

What's the hospital board's role in solving them? 

Lallas: Working with the administration to create an atmosphere that is geared towards the community and the needs of the community. Board members should support the administration and the personnel of the hospital in the operation of the hospital. Board members should seek out all forms of governmental financial assistance that can be obtained to support the services of the hospital so that the hospital can better serve the community.   

What do you see as opportunities for OCH? 

Lallas: In my opinion, additional services that OCH can provide to the community, such as a Trauma Unit that could provide a higher level of care for the cases that have to be airlifted to other locations. Also, elderly patient care, providing services to better serve the elderly of our community, such as wound care.   

What are some goals for the hospital that you would work toward?   

Lallas: Establishing an OCH Clinic, and to make everyone's experience with OCH as satisfying as possible.