District residents to decide on hospital board elections
Staff writer
Voters in St. Luke Hospital district will decide in May whether to change how hospital board members are elected.
This move is aimed at increasing participation in a process that has historically drawn limited turnout, CEO Alex Haines said.
The proposal would shift elections from the hospital’s brief in-person annual meeting to regular local elections, allowing voters to cast ballots at regular polling sites as with other county races.
“The hospital board does not have the authority to change the way in which the board members are elected,” Haines said.
The decision, he said, rests with district voters.
Currently, board members are elected during an annual meeting that begins at 5 p.m. and typically lasts about an hour. Residents must declare candidacy in advance and vote in person, with results announced the same evening.
The format has contributed to low participation, Haines said, with turnout typically limited unless a specific issue draws attention.
“We typically have very few people who show up to vote unless there’s some big controversy,” he said.
The proposed change would move elections to the same system used for school boards, requiring candidates to file through the county and placing candidates on the November ballot in odd-numbered years.
“This would allow people to take a vote at their regular polling sites throughout the county,” Haines said.
The shift would expand access by allowing voters to participate during standard polling hours rather than a single meeting window.
If approved, the change would not take effect immediately. Voters still would elect three board members at this year’s annual meeting before future elections transition to the county system.
The hospital board has reviewed the issue for about 18 months, Haines said, evaluating feedback from residents who said the current meeting-based system made participation difficult.
“We received a lot of feedback regarding the challenges of showing up at 5 o’clock,” he said.
The proposal also comes as the hospital seeks broader representation across its district, which extends beyond Marion but has historically seen most board members come from the city.
The hospital will not take a position on the measure and instead plans to focus on informing voters ahead of the May 26 meeting.
“We won’t try and encourage people to say yes or no,” Haines said. “We’re going to try and encourage people to show up and vote whichever way they prefer.”