EDMONDS — A member of the former Stevens Hospital board who helped oversee its transition to an affiliation with Seattle’s Swedish Health Services has announced her resignation.
“I feel like my work there was done,” said Kimberly Cole, who joined the board in 2008.
Cole, 31, said there were three events that influenced her decision, which she announced last week.
She was elected to the Lynnwood City Council in November. She serves as an executive assistant to Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper. And she recently completed law school at Seattle University and wants to spend time preparing for the bar exam.
The five publicly elected former hospital board members have changed roles. Instead of overseeing the Edmonds hospital, they now help run a foundationlike organization called the South Snohomish County Commission for Health, being launched this year.
The board has 60 days to appoint someone to fill Cole’s position. Whoever is appointed will serve until the November general election.
Applications will be taken through Feb. 18. Anyone interested in serving on the board may contact the commission at 425-640-4831.
The board’s four current members hope to interview people interested in serving on the board at its Feb. 23 meeting, said Fred Langer, board chairman.
The health commission is an outgrowth of last year’s decision to have Swedish Health Services take over management of the hospital, now called Swedish/Edmonds.
The money Swedish pays to lease the hospital — $7.2 million a year — goes to the public hospital district. This is one of the main sources of revenue for the new health commission.
This and other income will bring its annual revenue this year to about $9 million.
Since some funding requests may come from cities Cole is now working for, she said she decided “it’s better to devote myself to other things.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
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