KH: Explain contract move

To the leadership of community-owned Kootenai Health:

Please explain to the community of Coeur d’Alene and North Idaho the reasoning behind your decision to terminate your contract with Western Medical Associates (WMA) effective 1-1-22.

The timing of your decision is questionable on many levels. Why in the midst of an ongoing pandemic? Why when a predicted surge in the Omicron variant is imminent? Why in the middle of the clinical year when fewer physicians are available to sign new contracts and the more costly “locum tenens” (temporary replacements) must be used?

Your decision to terminate WMA’s contract is poorly thought out, ill-timed and driven by an agenda that does not have the health of the Coeur d’Alene and North Idaho community as THE top priority.

KARA KRAL

Coeur d’Alene