Hopsital Commissioner Candidate: Paul Joos

Valley Medical Center Hospital Board Commissioner candidate Paul Joos is set on positive change.

A self-described reform candidate without a political or administrative bent, Joos said if he’s elected, he’ll ensure the alliance between UW Medicine and Valley Medical Center is used to benefit taxpayers and “isn’t swallowed up by the larger entity.”

“We need to make sure that one of the functions of this alliance is to ensure affordable care and preserve the focus on patients, not profit,” he said, adding that “the race shouldn’t be politicized.”

He’s also adamant about a continued effort to improve the hospital’s reputation. In conversations with fire personnel, Joos said emergency responders say they “sometimes need to talk patients into going to Valley.”

“The reputation is much improved over what it was 20 or 30 years ago,” he said, but the perception is still there and “too high a percentage of people have negative experiences at Valley.”

Joos said the hospital should spend more on patient care and less on marketing and the administration. And that includes the salary and benefits for current CEO Rich Roodman, he said.

“Replacing (Roodman) would be one of the top 10 things I would do,” if elected, he said. “I think we do need new talent. We need new ideas and we don’t need to overpay for the talent.”

Joos calls Roodman’s pay “outrageous” for the size of the hospital he oversees.

As an eye surgeon at Valley Eye and Laser Center, located on the Valley campus although not part of Valley Medical Center, Joos said he doesn’t feel his job is a conflict of interest, estimating that less than one-tenth of the hospital’s business is eye care.

The position won’t be a problem in terms of his time commitment to the board, if elected.

Outgoing commissioner Don Jacobson attended 90 meetings last year, Joos said.

“I could easily accommodate that in my schedule.”

Joos’ decision to run was a shock to his family and friends, he said. “This is not the Paul they know.”

He’d always considered running, but did not live within the filing boundaries until two and a half years ago.

He’s never pursued political office in the past, and won’t seek or accept any other political positions until January 2018, when the term he’s running for expires.

No one asked him to run for the position, he said. It’s just something that he feels passionate about.

The shock is beginning to wear off for his friends and family. Although he does not have any political endorsements, he said, he is supported by “many physicians and members of the public.”