Sheridan County commissioners deadlock on hospital board appointment; seat remains vacant

A motion to appoint Dr. Fred Lounsbury to the Sheridan Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees failed in a 2-2 tie at the Sheridan County Board of County Commissioners meeting on June 17, 2025, leaving the five-year seat vacant.

The vote followed interviews of three candidates — Carol Gregory, Rob Johnson and Dr. Fred Lounsbury — and public comment from resident Vicky Taylor, who submitted letters and urged the commissioners to consider local history and patient safety when choosing a trustee. "He supports the GPET, but will it get him an appointment to the hospital Board of Trustees? And that is the question," Taylor said during public comment, adding that the timing of a published endorsement amounted to "patently pandering." Taylor also told commissioners she believed past incidents — including a reported attempt to partner with the Cancer Treatment Center of America and a prior infection incident tied to autoclave failures — merited attention as they considered candidates.

Commissioners conducted a quick straw poll before formal motioning to gauge support. The board indicated split preferences that, as commissioners predicted, produced a 2-2 final vote when Commissioner Jennings moved to appoint Dr. Lounsbury. The motion was seconded and then failed when the roll resulted in a tie, leaving no appointment. "Motion fails," the meeting record shows.

During discussion, commissioners and staff noted differing qualifications among the three candidates. Taylor described Carol Gregory as a retired division chief nursing officer who emphasized clinical standards; Taylor characterized Rob Johnson as a financial adviser with Elevate Financial Services in Sheridan who had written in support of the GPET tax; and she described Dr. Lounsbury as an internal medicine provider who said medicine should not be corporatized. Commissioner Musil noted that Johnson had served six years on the hospital foundation board, a point offered in support of Johnson's financial-background qualifications.

Commissioner Jennings asked whether the board wanted to postpone the appointment until Commissioner Wright returned from a bereavement leave to break any potential tie; a separate motion to add the appointment to the July 1 agenda was proposed but died for lack of a second. With no further motion to table, the board proceeded to vote on the nomination and the appointment failed.

The vacancy for the Sheridan Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees — a five-year term slated to begin July 7, 2025, and run through July 1, 2030, as stated during the meeting — remains open. The board may revisit the appointment at a future meeting, either by reconsideration of the same candidates or by accepting new applications.