This letter is in response to the letter submitted to Maple Valley/Covington Reporter by Dr. Aaron Heide regarding the Valley Medical Center and UW Medicine affiliation.

Dr. Aaron Heide is concerned about the circumvention of the democratic process.  He is against the proposed affiliation between University of Washington Medicine (UW) and Valley Medical Center (VMC) and he would like the voting public to believe that his motives are based purely out of an altruistic responsibility to democracy.

The truth: Dr. Aaron Heide is head of the stroke unit at Auburn Regional Hospital.  The fact that he was elected to the Valley Medical Center Board of Directors is clear evidence that the democratic system that he speaks to is broken.  Imagine the consequences for a moment that Boeing had a board that was publicly elected and somehow a high-ranking employee of Airbus was able to get elected to that board.  The simple truth is that Dr. Heide competes professionally with VMC and has absolutely nothing to gain from the enhanced services and reputation that VMC would gain from an affiliation with UW Medicine.

This reader is completely mystified by Dr. Heide’s assertion that VMC officials have insinuated that the public cannot be trusted to make a proper decision in upcoming elections.  First of all, they haven’t.  I have been to every board meeting in the last 5 months and multiple other meetings and even when Dr. Heide is not conspicuously missing, he is rarely paying attention to the information being disseminated.  Secondly, this particular citizen would like to point to the public electing a competitor of VMC to its board as evidence that an assertion that the voting public isn’t making the best choices may have some merit.

A Valley Medical Center affiliation with UW Medicine is a spectacular opportunity for the consumers of health care services in south King County.  There are a variety of private interests that stand to be left holding the short straw if this affiliation takes place.  While on one hand fascinating, the truth is that Dr. Heide’s obstructionist tactics in regards to a VMC/UW affiliation are a sad example of how private interests can infiltrate our political system and use it against us.

Joshua Lyons,

Owner of Pinnacle Physical Therapy

Maple Valley, Covington, Enumclaw