Four candidates are vying for one seat on the SVMHS board of directors.

After winning in 2018 and serving one term on the Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System Board of Directors, Richard Turner was told he should have no problem winning a second time. No one runs against an incumbent in a race for a hospital board; don’t bother to campaign. Turner ignored the advice and he’s glad he did: He has three opponents in the Nov. 8 election.

“It was surprising to everyone,” Turner says, about his three challengers for the Zone 4 seat that represents South Salinas and areas that reach from Marina toward South County. Two are physicians – Gary Falkoff and William Khieu – and one, Catherine Carson, is a recently retired nurse and hospital administrator. Turner, chief financial officer for a produce manufacturing company, believes his finance background is equally important.

“This is a big business, and it’s a complex business and being a doctor or being a nurse is different from running a business,” Turner says.

Falkoff is retired after working for 30 years at SVMHS as a radiologist, serving a term as chief of staff at the hospital. He believes having a doctor on a hospital board is important.

Khieu, an OB-GYN and integrative wellness doctor, says he’s running in part because SVMHS has been too reactive in patient care. “We need to be proactive, we need to keep [patients] as healthy as possible so hospitals will always have capacity,” he says.

After 45 years as a registered nurse who recently retired as a chief quality officer at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Carson says she is focused on patient safety. Carson also said in a written statement that her background as an administrator gives her an understanding of district finances. In addition, she warned of the possible expansion of Kaiser Permanente into the area as a challenge to the district.

There are races in zones 1 and 5 as well. Current Zone 1 board member Regina Gage, representing a large area of North County, is not seeking re-election. (She is running for the county Board of Supervisors.) Rolando Cabrera and Greg Fuller are vying for the seat. Cabrera is a physician in private practice who says he is running to “lead by example” and encourage greater community involvement. He wants SVMHS to address issues like fentanyl abuse and homelessness.

Fuller is a former wellness coach who says he wants SVMHS to focus on disease prevention. He proposes more urgent care clinics where “it’s not just for the owie booboo, but maybe check your balance as well.”

In Zone 5, covering eastern Salinas down to Gonzales, current board member Joel Hernandez, community impact officer for the Community Foundation for Monterey County, wants to continue serving the diverse needs of his district. “I’ve learned the importance of the health care industry and its place in people’s lives,” he says. Challenger Sonia Cardenas could not be reached. She wrote in her official candidate statement that she believes the SVMHS board needs a “voice for the patients.”