Three more candidates file for seats on the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board
The race to fill four seats on the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board is growing, with Republican Sharon Wetzler DePeters filing for re-election for At-Large Seat 1, while two Democratic newcomers have filed for At-Large Seats 2 and 3.
A total of four of the nine hospital board seats will be on the ballot this year.
Democrat John Lutz, an Englewood resident, filed for At-Large Seat 2 and currently would oppose Republican Kevin Cooper, who filed earlier this month for the seat currently occupied by Tramm Hudson, who is retiring.
Dr. George Davis, a Venice resident field for At-Large Seat 3, now occupied by Britt Riner.
Neither Riner, nor Sarah Lodge, whose Central District Seat 1 spot is on the ballot, have filed for another term, though the candidate qualifying period runs from noon June 10 through June 14.
If all candidates are from one party, the seat may be decided on the Aug. 20 primary ballot; otherwise it would be on Nov. 5.
The partisan hospital board races had historically been low-profile prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted a “Health Freedom” slate of candidates to run for four of five seats in 2022.
Three of those four candidates won seats on the board. Their voices helped spur the hospital to commission an independent study of its practices during the pandemic.
A news release from the Democratic Party of Sarasota County noted that both Davis and Lutz filed to oppose the “health freedom” movement and any attempts to “discredit and privatize” Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
Sarasota Memorial and Lee Health are the only two public hospitals in Florida that are overseen by elected boards of directors, though SMH is empowered to levy a tax but Lee Health is not.
Davis practiced family medicine in New York State for 37 years, specializing in end-of-life and palliative care.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from Columbia University. He also has a master’s in bioethics from Union University and Albany Medical Center.
“I want the hospital board to strongly support primary care,” Davis said in a prepared statement. “The SMH system has up-to-date, state-of-the-art research projects in many areas. SMH also has a large primary care system, and primary care doctors, nurses, and staff need extra recognition because they know the individual patients and learn what is best for them.
“This is the human side of medicine,” he added. “The art of medicine is knowing the patients, their families, and their unique situations. This is what makes the primary care doctor-patient relationship unique.”
Lutz, executive vice president of integrated delivery systems for the nonprofit Capital District Physicians Health Plan, has more than 40 years of hospital, physician practice, health insurance and consulting experience.
He graduated from the State University of New York/Oneonta with a degree in chemistry and holds a master’s degree in public health in hospital administration from Yale.
“I will support the board’s continuing efforts to develop state-of-the-art technology and facilities; recruit and retain the best health care staff; and ensure fiscal responsibility,” Lutz said in a prepared statement.
He opposes Republican incumbent DePeters, an advanced practice registered nurse and retired Air Force Major who now serves as the board secretary.
“I have spent nearly my entire adult life trying to help those suffering from illness and injury,” said DePeters,who was first elected to the board in 2016.
“Sarasota County is truly blessed to have one of the very best hospitals in the country. I will continue to do everything I can to make sure the residents in our community continue to receive top-of-the-line health care from top-tier medical professionals,” she added.
DePeters spent 21 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, stationed at Andrews Air Force Base with occupational status in the intensive care unit, operating room and post-anesthesia recovery unit.
Prior to that, she served more than 15 years in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at the VA Medical Center in upstate New York.
She now works as a sub investigator for research at the Cardiovascular Center of Sarasota and was an associate professor at the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota’s Science in Nursing Program for nearly 15 years.
Her volunteer work includes assisting with the Medical Reserve Corps of Sarasota where she participated in administering school physicals for elementary school students in North Port.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Race for Sarasota County Public Hospital Board starts to take shape
