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Advocate urges support for Issue 9, says Good Samaritan hospital closure was discriminatory
Summary
A community advocate told the commission she and others collected signatures to place Issue 9 on the ballot to address the closure of Good Samaritan Hospital and that she believes the closure reflected institutional racism; commissioners did not take action on the item at the meeting.
Kathleen Galt told the commission she and supporters collected signatures to place Issue 9 on the ballot, which she described as a means to address the closure of Good Samaritan Hospital. "We are asking the voters to take their opportunity to bring justice to the races and I believe ... the discriminatory institutional act of closing Good Sam," Galt said.
Galt said petitioners collected 10,000 signatures for the ballot initiative and urged commissioners, the mayor and city staff to support the measure. She characterized the hospital closure and subsequent decisions as shaped by money and said the federal investigation and legal process were unfair in her view.
Why it matters: the closure of Good Samaritan has mobilized community members and advocates; having a ballot initiative would let voters weigh remedies or policy responses. The commission did not take formal action in response to the comments at the meeting.
Ending: Commissioners acknowledged Galt’s remarks; no policy action on Issue 9 was taken at the meeting.
