JACKSON, Wyo. — On Nov. 5, Teton County residents will have the opportunity to elect four candidates to the St. John’s Hospital District Trustee Board.
While the Board is comprised of seven total members serving for four years each, only four are up for reelection this year. Cynthia Hogan has retired and her spot is open, and Jim Hunt, Bruce Hayse and Evan Jones are all running for reelection. That means there are three completely new candidates in the running this year: Bill Hoglund, Shannon A. Brennan and Mark Deboer.
Meet the candidates below!
Jim Hunt
Hunt was appointed in February 2022 to be an Advisor to the St. John’s board; in March 2023, Hunt was appointed to Trustee role and as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance committee to fill a vacancy.
Hunt tells Buckrail that, most immediately, he wants to finish the 72 units under development of the Hitching Post workforce housing and its financing, while also implementing and addressing St. John’s new facility Master Plan.
“Staffing is the single most critical issue, and suitable housing is the key to attract and retain top tier medical personnel, housing is essential,” Hunt says.
According to Hunt, longer term needs include developing a path to ownership for St. John’s staff and supporting expanded resources such as the new Pet-CT Scanner, medical oncology and the plan to add cancer radiation capability.
“As a trustee, my role is to be an ombudsman for my neighbors and advance topics, good and disappointing, for our success,” Hunt says. “While my career has been in finance, neighbors come before numbers and I am committed to St. John’s independence and its support of all our community.”
Bruce Hayse
Hayse initially ran for the St. John’s board due to his experience on the medical staff at the hospital, and has now served four terms.
“I was concerned that the hospital was lacking in vision for the future and was making inadequate effort to be at the forefront of medical progress,” Hayse tells Buckrail.
Since Hayse has been on the Board, he says St. John’s is now recognized as one of the premier small hospitals in the nation. Hayse is running with the intention of ensuring continuation of this trend.
According to Hayse, his top priorities if reelected include maintaining a high quality of care, which incorporates “excellent medical outcomes and treating everyone with compassion, courtesy and responsiveness.” He is also focused on developing adequate housing solutions for employees.
“We need to ensure equal access to quality care for all segments of the community and provide this care in the most cost-effective manner,” Hayse says.
Evan Jones
Jones is running for his second term; after reading about the challenges facing St. John’s in 2021, he says he felt he could help the hospital, and was appointed in 2022.
Jones wants to continue the work he’s doing to strengthen St. John’s Health and to improve the quality of healthcare in Jackson. Jones sees housing and employee satisfaction as significant issues for St. John’s; as a member of the Finance Committee, he has helped complete or get into development more than 80 affordable housing units, with significantly increased salaries for hospital employees.
“Morale has improved,” Jones says. “There is much more work to be done to continue expanding the care we provide and to build and protect our special hospital.”
Jones’ priorities are to continue to implement the work outlined in the new St. John’s Strategic Plan, what he calls “a compelling vision for the future,” continue to help lead the effort to improve quality and operational excellence and expand service offerings in areas such as oncology, women’s health, orthopedics and mental health.
Bill Hoglund
Hoglund has a vision to join St. John’s Hospital and keep it independent and financially viable.
“What would our town look like without a superb hospital?” Hoglund shares with Buckrail. “I don’t want to know. I want to use my financial and governance expertise to insure our hospital stays independent, financially secure and able to provide all the services Jackson needs.”
Hoglund emphasizes mental health and women’s health as two excellent examples where the hospital has to be involved and active, doing everything possible to retain, train and attract outstanding nurses and doctors.
Shannon A. Brennan
Brennan tells Buckrail she sees an opportunity to make a good hospital even better. Brennan wants to ensure that St. John’s plans aggressively for the future, intentionally engaging the public and maintaining the solid financial posture that it currently enjoys despite the threats Brennan sees of creeping costs and dwindling reimbursements.
Brennan says she brings innovation and energy to the table, and is running for the St. John’s Board position based on 35 years in management of large, energy-related programs and formal training in hospital and healthcare management.
Brennan says she is dedicated specifically to ensuring effective mental health, geriatric and maternal and child health resources are available and accessible, in addition to promoting the development of a detailed, risk-based Strategic Plan to form the basis for senior management decision making.
“I commit to developing more diverse and frequent opportunities for SJH to connect with the community,” Brennan says. “Overall, my biggest commitment is to ensure continual efforts towards optimizing accessibility and availability of medical and healthcare resources to all in SJH’s service area, including both residents and visitors.”
Mark Deboer
Deboer has practiced Cardiology for over 30 years, including private practice and managed care, which he says has afforded him broad experience in providing both quality of care and service in the practice of medicine.
According to Deboer, he is running for this position “to be a part of the St. John’s Health Strategic Plan to provide excellent quality of care and service to the constituents of Teton County.”
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Early voting is now open.
