Third WhidbeyHealth board member resigns this year

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Last week, Dr. Mark Borden became the third WhidbeyHealth commissioner to resign this year.

Once his replacement is chosen, a majority of the hospital board will consist of appointed rather than elected commissioners. Earlier this year, the board appointed Coupeville attorney Katherine Nelson and Clinton resident Marcy Shimada, a former medical group CEO, to fill vacancies.

Borden announced his resignation during Thursday’s board meeting. The board was scheduled to hold a special meeting Tuesday, June 30, after the News-Times’ press deadline to consider a nominee for the vacancy.

In an interview, Borden said he also planned to resign in January but that Staggs asked him to put off the decision until the board was stabilized with new members. If a quorum of members had resigned at the same time, the process of choosing their replacement would be much more complicated.

In addition, Borden explained that he promised his wife he would resign.

“I wanted to be able to say we were headed in the right direction before I left,” he said.

Staggs did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Even before Borden’s resignation, the board had relatively little experience. Board President Marion Jouas was elected in November 2023, while Dr. Kirk Gasper and Borden were elected last November.

The recent turnover stems from an unprecedented board meeting in January. Commissioners James Golder and James Canby resigned after joining Borden in voting to fire CEO Nathan Staggs and remove Jouas as board president. They reversed both decisions later in the same meeting after hospital medical staff filled the room and spoke forcefully in support of Staggs.

Borden said the vote to fire Staggs was a mistake, which he said was the result of pressure from leaders of the consulting firm HealthTech. He said he now has confidence in Staggs and the board, describing the CEO as an “expansionist CEO” who has reversed years of service cuts by expanding hospital programs and increasing revenue.

Yet Borden said staff and leaders at the hospital were against him even before the controversy. When he led the emergency department more than 15 years ago, he said, he was unpopular because he was uncompromising about quality and was outspoken about changes he felt were needed. Borden claims the staff felt he jeopardized their stable employment by being a force against the status quo.

“I can be a bulldozer because I speak the truth,” he said.

The medical staff passed a vote of no confidence in Borden in response to the meeting at which Staggs was fired and then un-fired.

Afterward, Borden again stirred controversy by writing an online comment on a medical journal article in which he wrote that the hospital’s reliance on “mid-level” providers led to a decline in the quality of medical care. In response, staff members spoke out against him, while Staggs and Jouas wrote a letter to the editor supporting advanced practice providers — physician assistants, nurse practitioners and certified nurse anesthetists.

Borden said he stands by his comments, arguing that the hospital’s ratio of physicians to advanced practice providers was so skewed that there was no way for physicians to adequately supervise. He said the situation has since been improved by the hiring of additional doctors.

Under state law, the board will accept nominations for the vacant seat and is expected to interview candidates before making an appointment. The appointee will serve until the next election at which the position would normally appear on the ballot, which is 2027.