Anti-vaccine Republican challenges Libertarian for final Sarasota Hospital Board seat

A longtime GOP member will face off against a Libertarian in the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board's sole race in next week's midterm election.

Victor Rohe, the final member of the self-named "Health Freedom Slate" is challenging Libertarian Party member Jonathan Tubbs for Seat 2 of the Board's Northern District. The Hospital Board provides oversight to the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System.

A Rohe victory would certify that three out of the four conservative candidates making up the Health Freedom platform won their races.

During the primaries, there were 14 candidates running for five seats — all but one (Tubbs) identifying as Republican. The unusually crowded ballot twisted a once low-profile race into a coordinated campaign accusing Sarasota Memorial of patient negligence and major pandemic missteps.

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Rohe has no experience in the medical field, according to his bio on healthfreedomsrq.com. Instead, he is described as a political and fiscal conservative "well experienced in legal and regulatory systems," including past titles such as mortgage broker, financial consultant, and police lieutenant.

There is no available information online on Tubbs' background or platform. He did not respond to an emailed list of questions or calls for this article.

Currently, only two of the eight-member board are medical professionals: the chair, Sharon Wetzler DePeters, who is an advanced practice registered nurse, and Richard Rehmeyer, a board-certified ENT-otolaryngologist. Rohe and Tubbs are running for Rehmeyer's seat.

Two other members of the Health Freedom Slate, Bridgette Fiorucci and Patricia Maraia, were elected in August during the primaries. They are both registered nurses who cited broken confidence in the hospital system.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Rohe called COVID-19 vaccines “a joke,” even after experiencing what he called a “bad case” of the virus.

“If I went to the (Sarasota Memorial) hospital, I believed I would die,” he said, then deciding to rent his own oxygen unit instead of seeking treatment at one of the top hospitals in the state and the best in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Unverified allegations of negligence at SMH

In an email to the Herald-Tribune, Rohe pointed to three alleged cases of patient negligence. Two allegedly occurred in August 2021 and were highlighted in videos by American Media Periscope, an unverified news source. One claimed to witness patient negligence in Sarasota Memorial's emergency room. The second was a daughter who was denied visitation to her father after he tested positive for COVID and refused to authorize the decision to place him on a ventilator.

"These are serious allegations and need to be investigated in order to establish the facts," Rohe said, adding that he believes the two incidents are not isolated cases.

"In the course of our campaign we interviewed four widows of patients that died at SMH during this same time frame ... Many other people approached me during the campaign and volunteered that they would not consent to going to SMH for any reason based on the experience of themselves or their relations," he said.

"This is a major public relations problem, at the least, even if the facts do not bare out the allegations after a comprehensive, transparent, and thorough investigation."

Rohe pointed to a third allegation in September 2021 when a previous patient at Sarasota Memorial Hospital filed a complaint to Sarasota Police claiming he was a victim of theft, false imprisonment, and battery while admitted.

While being treated inpatient for COVID, Stephen Guffanti claimed to have become his roommate's (unidentified) "patient advocate," detailing a statement accusing medical staff of ignoring certain symptoms. In the complaint, Guffanti stated that it was "his own medical opinion that (the roommate) had bacterial pneumonia," that his clothes were taken from his closet and never returned, and that he was pushed onto a bed while being restrained by four staff members.

According to the complaint, a doctor at SMH authorized a "restraint face-to-face assessment," claiming that Guffanti exhibited severe aggressiveness and erratic behavior, including an allegation of violating HIPAA. An additional report documented Guffanti taking photos of staff, another patient, and that patient's medical records. He was eventually placed under the Baker Act.

On Sept. 28, 2021, Sarasota Police closed the case, stating that there was no evidence to support Guffanti's allegations.

The Herald-Tribune sent several questions to Sarasota Memorial Hospital's spokesperson, Kim Savage, on whether the Health Freedom Slate's medical freedom messaging was of concern and requesting comment on the incoming hospital board members' public complaints regarding the hospital's handling of COVID patients and protocol.

Savage did not answer the questions, instead providing a statement congratulating and welcoming newly elected board members.

"We look forward to working with them to advance our mission and serve our community," she wrote. "We also extend our thanks to our outgoing Hospital Board members who have provided outstanding leadership to the health system and the community."

What does 'medical freedom' mean?

The Health Freedom candidates run on a platform rallying for “medical freedom,” a term adopted by conservatives to appeal to those against vaccine mandates, masking, and social distancing.

According to the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the term represents an aversion to government intervention in personal health choices, “often coupled to the counter promotion of a spectacular or miracle cure,” such as clinical vaccinations.

"Medical freedom is the ability of patients to make their own medical decisions," Rohe said. "The traditional doctor-patient relationship is what we are talking about here. Not the government or an insurance company as represented by some administrator, telling the doctor and the patient what the treatment will be."

Since the emergence of COVID-19, medical freedom advocates expanded their protests to include preventative measures such as social distancing. The medical freedom movement continues to gain prominence by promoting ineffective treatments lacking scientific studies, such as touting ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as COVID miracle cures.

One of the original Health Freedom Candidates, retired physician Joseph S. Chirillo, admitted to prescribing unauthorized drugs to treat COVID-19 patients in August.

Rohe and Tubbs contest for the final open seat on the Hospital Board on Nov. 8.

Stefania Lugli covers a little of everything for the Herald-Tribune. You can contact her at slugli@heraldtribune.com or dm her on Twitter at @steflugli.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota hospital board: Republican, Libertarian face off for seat