Four candidates who ran on a "medical freedom" platform in hopes of winning a seat on the board for one of Florida's largest public health systems lost to Republican opponents in the Aug. 20 primary, according to WUSF, an NPR member station.
Preliminary results on the Sarasota County elections website show incumbents Sarah Lodge and Sharon Wetzler DePeters defeated their respective opponents, Tanya Parus and Tamzin Rosenwasser. Newcomers Kevin Cooper and Pam Beitlich also defeated their respective opponents, Stephen Guffanti, MD, and Mary Flynn O'Neill. Each of the winning candidates received more than 60% of the vote.
The Sarasota County Public Hospital Board, the nine-member board overseeing the county's healthcare system, which includes the 897-bed Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Hospital as well as the Venice hospital campus and various other locations, comprises six members who must be residents of the northern, central or southern areas of the community, and three who hold at‐large seats. Hospital board members are elected by voters countywide to serve staggered four-year terms; four seats are up for election this year (three at large and one central), while five seats were up for election in 2022.
The 2022 election garnered attention when four conservative candidates ran for seats on the board on a "medical freedom" platform, and at least three expressed skepticism of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Four new members were elected in 2022, three of whom ran on the platform of "medical freedom." A board incumbent won the fifth open seat.
After the election came a review of the hospital's COVID-19 performance, and Sarasota Memorial in early 2023 issued a public report, which concluded the hospital saw stronger outcomes among COVID-19 patients than other hospitals. The hospital continued to face political pressure regarding its COVID-19 policies and treatment protocols, despite the internal review findings.
Since then, the three "medical freedom" board members have not aligned their votes on issues, and the board decided in May not to officially endorse guidance from Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD, against COVID-19 vaccines, according to WUSF.
The four Republican candidates will face Democratic opponents in the Nov. 5 general election.
Alan Jerome Sprintz has filed to run as a Democrat for at-large seat 1 on the board and will face Ms. DePeters. For the at-large Seat 2, Democrat Dale Anderson will face Mr. Cooper. Ms. Beitlich will face Democrat George Davis for the at-large seat 3. Ms. Lodge will face Democrat Vicki Lynn Nighswander for Central District seat 1.
"We know that Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is one of the community's most valuable assets," SMH said in a statement shared with Becker's. "It is very gratifying that the members of the community are so engaged in its future and made their voices heard. Looking to November, we trust voters to elect hospital board candidates committed to SMH's mission to provide comprehensive, high-quality care to our community."