On August 1, voters narrowly approved a 31-cent increase in the Public Hospital District 2 Maintenance & Operations (M&O) levy. The request to hospital district voters passed with a 211-vote margin, 3,401 “Yes” to 3,190 “No.” In a subsequent statement Island Hospital CEO Vince Oliver said: “While we are very happy about our district voters supporting a 31-cent increase of the maintenance and operations levy, it was a very close vote. As public employees, we must understand the serious responsibility inherent in collecting and spending tax dollars. We are sensitive to, and fully understand those who voted against the levy increase. We will do all we can to ensure that our district residents – the owners of Island Hospital – have access to any financial information, especially our capital expenditures. We now move forward with added optimism as we prepare to develop our capital budget for 2018 and beyond. We now can upgrade and maintain our older facilities and purchase the medical technology to continue to be one of the top hospitals in Washington State.”