70 vote in hospital election

Kathy Meierhoff and Steve Smith were elected to the St. Luke Hospital Board on Tuesday. Smith received the most votes with 42, while Meierhoff received 38 votes.

Incumbent Martin Tice received 33 votes, and Chris Gillespie received 27 votes. Tice and Jerry Dieter’s board positions were up for election to three-year terms. Dieter chose not to run for re-election because he serves on Marion City Council.

The clinic basement was nearly full with 70 voters.

Smith is the Marion County Emergency Medical Service director and has been involved with the hospital since he started training to be an emergency medical technician in 1994. He also has served on the city council.

Meierhoff grew up in Marion and moved back to start a family. Both of her children were born at St. Luke, and she served two terms on the school board.

Tice had been on the hospital board since 1998. He has family members involved in health care fields and is a former school administrator. He is retiring as USD 408’s business manager in June.

Gillespie has worked in health care for 28 years, most of it in critical access hospitals — which St. Luke is an example of — and rural health clinics.

After the votes were cast, administrators gave reports on the hospital’s past year.