Karen Nakamura's comprehensive December overview warrants comment. The elected Marin Health Care District Board was responsible to the residents of the district. Its primary function was the running of Marin General Hospital from its opening from 1952 to its privatization with a 30 year lease late in 1985. In 1985 CEO Henry J. Buhrmann and the hospital's lawyer, Quentin Cook presented a lease to the five directors which all signed. The principals formed a shell MGH shell corporation and transferred millions of dollars of public assets to the privatized hospital. Late in 1985 the public awakened to the fact that they no longer controlled their hospital.
In 1986 the privatized MGH was acquired by California Healthcare System, San Francisco. In 1996 this entity merged into Sutter Health of Sacramento. Cook became Sutter's vice-president. The hospital lessee for over 10 years has been Sutter Health. Quality of care has been much less than exemplary as Nakamura reported in December.

Thanks to the effort of activists such as Dr. William Rothman, Sutter has agreed to return the hospital to community control no later than mid-2010. (The lease originally was scheduled to terminate in 2015.) Transition will not be easy. Sutter has encouraged paying patients to use its Terra Linda outpatient facility and to use Sutter/Novato Community Hospital whenever possible. All of this means less potential revenue for MGH.

The current elected board has two distinguished consumer advocates: Jennifer Rienks and R. Archimedes (Archie) Ramirez. Last summer the other three were ready to lease or sell JMGH but found no takers. Dr. Larry Bedard, whom Nakamura described as the director of the elected board is just the most vocal member. Sharon Jackson was chair during these events. The fifth board member is Dr. James (Jamie Clever.)