Sarasota County Public Hospital Board, Central District, Seat 1: Tanya Parus

Age: 46

Current occupation: President and managing member of We The People Health and Wellness Center

Resident of Sarasota County: More than four years

Why are you running for election? 

I believe in the power of patient-centered care, medical freedom, transparency and accountability. I want to bring positive change to our hospital board and ensure that our community receives the excellent healthcare it deserves.

Have you ever run for public office before? If so, for what office? 

I briefly ran for Venice City Council, but unfortunately had to drop out of the race for personal reason. My experience as a healthcare administrator and owner/operator has given me a deep understanding of the healthcare system and the ability to make informed decisions for the betterment of our community.

What experience and/or special skills do you have that make you a better candidate than your opponents? 

As an owner of We The People Health and Wellness Center, I have a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of the healthcare system. I have successfully managed and implemented a patient-centered care model and worked closely with medical professionals to improve healthcare outcomes. 

My experience and skills uniquely position me to bring effective and innovative solutions to the hospital board. For the better part of my career, I was also a product development manager, successfully running products from conceptual starting to seeing in completion successful products being scaled in my line of business. I was also an EMT and saw firsthand how fragile life is.

Not only do I understand the financial aspects, but I also have first-hand knowledge from the clinical side and the community’s needs and requests for better healthcare.

Unfortunately, my opponent has made it very clear that she does not focus on the medical aspect. And I think that is a big mess on her part. She had every opportunity to become more involved and have a deeper understanding considering she is on a hospital board.

What do you see as the top three or four priorities that the hospital board needs to address? And how should those priorities be addressed? The top priorities for the hospital board should be.

• Enhancing patient-centered care: The board should prioritize patient well-being by ensuring that all decisions are made with the best interest of patients in mind. 

This can be achieved by engaging with patients and medical professionals to gain insights into their needs and preferences. 

The hospital board has the opportunity to become very involved with the committees that are responsible for addressing concerns coming from the physicians, nurses and patients. There should be more transparency and involvement from the board to make this a hospital of excellence.

• Ensuring medical freedom: Individuals should have the freedom to choose the medical treatments and options that align with their values and beliefs. 

The board should work toward creating an environment where medical freedom is respected and supported. Presently I feel that the environment is not supportive of these options. 

We can start by introducing other doctors to participate in grand rounds that would showcase the ability and in depth understanding of other medical treatments to gain comfort of the medical staff in the hospital.

• Promoting transparency and accountability: The board must foster a culture of transparency and accountability. This can be accomplished by regularly communicating with the community, providing workshops where public participation is sought after. 

This would encourage the citizens of Sarasota County to share their thoughts, ideas and address concerns in an open dialect with the board. 

By providing clear and accessible information about the hospital and by engaging with the citizens about the hospital’s healthcare services, we could work toward trust and accountability of the hospital.

On a scale of A to F, with A being excellent, what grade would you give the performance of the current SMH executive team? Why, and what if anything should change in the way SMH leadership operates the SMH system?

I would give the current SMH executive team a C. While they have made significant strides in improving healthcare services, there is much room for improvement. 

The SMH leadership should prioritize effective communication, collaboration with medical professionals and engaging with the community to better understand its needs and concerns in a non-biased way. 

The hospital’s property-tax millage rate has been 1.042 mills. In 2023, that generated $81.9 million in property-tax revenue, accounting for 58% of the hospital system’s surplus over its expenses. What is your position on the hospital’s millage rate — should it remain 1.042 mills; should it be reduced or increased? Why?

The hospital's millage rate should be carefully evaluated based on the needs of the community and the financial sustainability of the hospital system. 

It is important to find a balance that ensures the hospital has the necessary resources to deliver quality healthcare while also considering the burden on taxpayers. 

I do believe Sarasota Memorial Hospital has aggressively pursued much more development than is currently sustainable. However, I anticipate a deeper dive into the sustainability once elected. 

A comprehensive financial analysis and community input should guide any decision regarding the millage rate.

A faction of Sarasota County citizens contends the hospital should be sold and privatized. What is your position on this and why?

I am opposed to the sale and privatization of the hospital. Our community deserves a healthcare system that is accountable to the needs of its residents. 

Privatization may prioritize profits over patient care and limit access to essential services. 

Instead, I believe in working toward improving the existing public hospital system by ensuring transparency, accountability and patient-centered care.

Do you agree or disagree with the board’s decision as outlined below — why?

(Regarding COVID-19 vaccines, the hospital board recently rejected a motion from Board Member Victor Rohe to add on the SMH website, among other points, the following: “to fully inform the public of the lack of pre-authorization safety data, the evidence of probable risks of these injections and of [Florida Surgeon General] Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s recent call to immediately halt the use of these COVID-19 mRNA injections. … Further, all staff and employees should be instructed, when they interact with patients or other members of the community who make inquiries about the COVID-19 vaccine, to refer those patients or community members to the information available on the SMH website concerning the risks and lack of safety data, rather than simply referring those individuals to local pharmacies that continue to dispense these potentially dangerous injections.” 

Instead the board unanimously voted to support the following: “That the Board will continue to respect and honor every patient’s right to make [his/her] own health care decision within the patient-physician relationship, and using all resources available to them to inform the discussions surrounding those decisions … [T]he Board will continue to endeavor not to invade the physician-patient relationship or mandate treatment regimens for patients to its physicians.”)

I do not agree with the board’s decision to support the alternative resolution. It is important to ensure that patients have access to accurate and reliable information to make informed decisions about COVID-19 vaccines.

Our state’s surgeon general has given warning to these vaccines which falls under the “informed-consent” visibility. Our surgeon general’s advice should be incorporated into the hospital information such as website, etc., as SMH is not a privately owned hospital. 

The public has the right to know all aspects of its potential health risks, and the board should not hide any information.

Citizens must feel confident and comfortable when making decisions about their healthcare and are smart enough to weigh out risk and benefit when all information is given to them on both sides.