A wealth of knowledge, leadership, professional experience and four years on the Palomar Health Board of Directors make Laurie Edwards-Tate the easy choice to re-elect for Division 3.
During her tenure on the board, Edwards-Tate has been a steward of patient advocacy, financial management and long-term vision to read industry trends to position the board, and the hospital and its staff, in the best position.
As a CEO of her own healthcare business for 30 years, who also founded a nonprofit coupled with a master’s degree in human resources and organizational management, Edwards-Tate understands the nuances of how a large-scale business functions and where challenges lay ahead.
“I am a positive force during changing times,” Edwards-Tate said. “I am running because when I vote, my vote carries for and on behalf of the entire district. I am running because I care.”
Edwards-Tate’s professional experience is undeniable. With her State of CA licensed Home Care Organization, she focuses on home and community-based services. She serves disabled seniors, individuals with developmental disabilities, and veterans.
Her district covers areas in Carlsbad (La Costa, Rancho Carillo), San Marcos, parts of Escondido and Rancho Santa Fe. Palomar Health, meanwhile, is the largest hospital district in the state with 600,000 residents.
With so many residents, and their health at stake, Edwards-Tate is prioritizing patients, fiscal responsibility and addressing future headwinds now, rather than take a reactive approach, she said. She also wants to ensure the hospital’s staff can meet its demand, while being compensated appropriately.
She’s also chaired several committees giving her a more thorough foundation and understanding of operations, staff and the hospital’s finances. Additionally, she put in countless hours of work during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she would spend days planning and adapting to an ever-changing landscape.
“Throughout that time, my main concern was the patient,” Edwards-Tate said. “I never lost my focus. The patient we serve is our whole reason for being.”
She said if the board and staff are not doing their best by prioritizing and taking care of their residents, then the hospital will fail. With that leadership and mission, Edwards-Tate said her excellent leadership and ability to manage large-scale budgets ensures the hospital can move forward in a positive direction.
One of the biggest challenges that lays ahead, she said, is the labor force and how it is rapidly changing. Edwards-Tate said her second term will also focus on long-term strategic planning to proactively position the hospital and the board to meet the labor force demands and the realities of tomorrow.
She said a lack of balance in Sacramento from a legislative perspective is a hurdle for the hospital, but also the industry trends in healthcare. The labor force, Edwards-Tate said, the country will lose 90,000 physicians due to retirement or burn out.
For years she has known this wave, whether the Silver Wave or burn out, has been on the horizon. Edwards-Tate said these realities, plus the imbalance in the legislature, requires an experienced voice who knows how to address and proactively move the hospital in the right direction.
“I realized that it is imperative upon those of us who have the capacity or background to be a positive source or positive force of help,” she said. “During the changing time of healthcare, I felt it incumbent upon me to get re-elected.”
Paid for by Laurie Edwards-Tate for Palomar Health Board 2022.
