Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board Races for Dummies
Why A Community Is Up In Arms
If it weren’t for the meshuginahs that have come out of hiding loudly blowing their dissonant horns of all kinds in off-key statements and ear-breaking conspiracy theories, no one in Sarasota would even care who was running for races that include the hospital board. How boring, right? We only wish.
(Jump to recipe to see who Dear Bubbie recommends for the board.)
Instead, this race for the Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) Board is of such utmost urgency that 4,000 registered Democrats changed their affiliation to Republican, so they could make sure the crazies are completely out of the equation.
Who are the cray crays in our opinion and why?
Tamzin Rosenwasser, Stephen Guffanti, Mary Flynn O’Neill and Tanya Parus are the keepers of that title.
Peter Schorsch, the Publisher of Florida Politics, calls them Covid-obsessed whackadoodles, who (like former Governor Rick Scott) may want to privatize the public hospital. Privatization compromises healthcare access and overall care quality, especially for vulnerable populations.
One reader, who wishes to remain anonymous said: “Simply put, the Hospital Board race has devolved into a Kindergarten schoolyard fight based on fear. Nobody wants to privatize SMH but everybody says the other guys want to (the "I know you are but what am I" campaign that worked for Trump in 2016).”
Vicki Nighswander, who’s name will appear on the November ballot as a Democrat explains, “There is maneuvering going on. The Freedom folks are now emphasizing they are against privatization. One must consider motives on all sides. They certainly want to continue their assault on our institutions and privatizing could possibly close that door, including no public input.
“Shortly, SMH may be the only public hospital in the state,” she continued. “The more obvious distinctions have to do with anti-vax/ anti-mask stances. They’re upset with the study of the handling of Covid.”
Let’s break it down:
Rossenwasser is endorsed by Sarasota-Manatee Right to Life. She’s also getting support from Andy Schlafly, who doesn’t even reside in Florida, but is paying for ads on ‘X’ endorsing her. If his last name is familiar, he’s the son of Phyliss Schlafly who is renowned for opposing the Equal Rights Amendment and for calling the passing of Roe v. Wade the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court.
Along with 72-year-old Guffanti, they are the Medical Freedom faction. Guffanti cited poor care during his own Covid treatment and that of his roommate at the hospital.
More Health Freedom candidates are Mary Flynn O’Neil and Tanya Parus, both Republicans vying for Board positions.
Flynn’s campaign message reads:
“Mary pledges to advocate for the protection of all patients and she advocates for true medical freedom. She will Fight Like A Flynn for the people!”
What does Fight like a Flynn mean? She is the sister of Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn. We can only hope that doesn’t mean she’ll attempt a coup against the election results if she loses.
Running under the same label is Tanya Parus, the president of Moms for America’s Sarasota chapter, a Trump-supporting network similar to Moms for Liberty. Parus is also the co-founder of the anti-vaccine “We the People Health and Wellness Center.”
A retired doctor wrote in to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune:
“If they are elected, what is considered a very good hospital will be guided by a bunch of conspiracy theorists who do not believe that COVID-19 was dangerous.”
Sarah Lodge, Sharon Wetzler, Kevin Cooper and Pam Beitlich are the Republican Citizens for Health Care Excellence Candidates.
In prior years, hospital board races did not generate a great deal of interest from the general public. In 2022, only 26% of voters participated in the hospital board elections, the League of Women Voters notes.
The Excellence campaign has been collecting large sums from Democrats for some time.
Nighswander explains that the difference with the Democratic slate (that voters will see on the November ballot) and the Excellence Republicans is “not only our comprehensive quality candidates, but we are not ladder climbers and genuinely would work to continue the trajectory of excellence.
Alan Sprintz has run hospitals. George Davis is a doctor. I have the community health background that no one else has. And we certainly need that in this age of pandemics and our living in a Petrie dish.
Frankly we are not prepared for a next go round. We have over 2,000 school children who are not vaccinated for measles. We were lucky it didn’t come here. The far right has no interest in masks or vaccines for that matter. I am very concerned about how the next hazardous communicable disease will be handled here.
I feel the majority would agree that there needs to be transparency and respect improvement. I have a plan for such improvements.
Patricia Maraia was elected to the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board in 2022. She is a longtime patient advocate and clinician with more than 35 years of nursing experience. In an editorial for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, she explains the term Medical Freedom and how it has been corrupted.
It is not just about the right to access specific medications or treatments. It also embodies the broader principle of allowing patients to collaborate with their doctors to make informed, mutual decisions about their care. It's about respecting individual choice.
But that broader concept is lacking in today’s medical freedom movement, where candidates are more interested in stirring the pot and advancing personal agendas. Their approach can be seen as disruptive and counterproductive, and it could sabotage SMH’s reputation and ability to recruit skilled physicians. If elected, their tactics could slow or stop progress – and also Sarasota Memorial’s strong legacy of providing high quality care.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has been writing more about this race than the rest of election coverage combined. The reason is explained by our reader, stating: “Realistically, this race will be decided in the primary.”
Recipe: Dear Bubbie recommends Sarasota Republican voters support: Sarah Lodge, Sharon Wetzler, Kevin Cooper and Pam Beitlich in the August 20th Primaries.
Who are you voting for in the Sarasota School Board races? E-mail us with a paragraph or two explaining why you’re voting for the candidate of your choice. If you had a personal experience with a candidate that influenced your vote, we want to hear about it. Send your quotes to: jslferguson@gmail.com. You can include a picture too, if you’d like. We need it before August 5th, so send it in today.
OMG i cannot believe Tamzin Rosenwasser is on the ballot. She has serious mental issues. i met her in the late 90s and immediately became a big fan as i was a single female physician, orphan immigrant and had overcome great hurdles to become a graduate of ivy league schools so i felt we shared so much. She was smart and very versed in Madisonianism and i was becoming very interested in medical and regular politics. i even rented her a home as she had problems finding rental since she owned two huge Newfies. i rented the downstairs to a vision impaired woman i knew who called me one day to complain about two baby "birds" which had fallen into her kitchen light fixture and she couldn't see to rescue. i went over to help and found to my horror that the baby birds were in fact baby rats from what appeared to be Tamzin's apartment. the kitchen was directly above. i went up to check and despite being home (her car was parked there on a weekend), she refused to answer the door. i called and got the same response-no answer. i went back up and peeked into the apartment. i was horrified to find that what i could see was a scene from "Hoarders" (which i don't think existed back then). Every square foot was buried with stacks of papers, books and cardboard boxes. There were tiny walkways carved out to the bedrooms and kitchen from the door. There was a lit tea light perched atop one paper stack(!) and there were black dog hairs over everything including the walls as high as those huge dogs could reach! i had to go back to my card to get a pen and paper to leave her a letter in which i explained that this was a grade A health and fire hazard and she needed to clean it up. When she failed to respond to this letter, i sent another one threatening to report her to the health authorities and offering to provide her free clean up help from our little circle of friends. She never responded but did move out. i briefly flirted with joining the AAPS as an alternative to the AMA which i didn't feel was responding to doctor concerns a few years later but never did as they seemed too reactionary to me. This was confirmed when she ultimately rose to a leadership position in the organization and reaffirmed by their anti-science stance during the pandemic. i am so saddened to see what is happening to Sarasota which used to be a wonderful little town. i can't believe anyone believes she is a serious person but she did fool me for a little while!