Mclain, 2 Others Keep Kootenai Hospital District Seats

Three trustees on the Kootenai Hospital District board retained their seats in an election Tuesday that had four candidates.

The vice chairman of the board, Betty McLain, came away with the most votes in the countywide election, according to unofficial results Tuesday night.

McLain had 709 votes, while fellow eight-year board member James Curtis had 693 votes. Paul Anderson, who has served on the board since being appointed in September, won 684 votes.

Challenger John Fox, who recently retired from Kootenai Medical Center’s engineering department, trailed with 314 votes.

The only polling place not included in the unofficial count was Athol, but only 12 people voted there. An official canvass of the votes will begin at 8 a.m. today.

The overall turnout was slightly greater than in 1994, the last election when three trustee seats were open. That year the turnout was 2,309 voters. This year, 2,412 voters participated in the election.

McLain, Curtis and Anderson won six-year terms on the board, which governs KMC, a public hospital.

, DataTimes