UMC oversight

The wounds from the County Commission’s political battles over University Medical Center are so infected, not even the hospital’s brilliant trauma unit staff could heal them.

The latest fight broke out Wednesday, when a proposal to seek advice from a medical consultant evolved into a new skirmish over the creation of a separate governing board.

Earlier this year, the commission voted 4-3 to back legislation shifting oversight of the deficit-plagued public hospital from the commission to a board of medical experts. The three commissioners who opposed the move — Tom Collins, Chris Giunchigliani and Lawrence Weekly — then testified before the Legislature against the bill, helping to kill it. (Mr. Collins and Ms. Giunchigliani are former Assembly members.)

Wednesday might very well have been payback for that stunt. Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak steered debate back toward governance. Mr. Sisolak and Commissioners Larry Brown, Susan Brager and Mary Beth Scow then voted to direct staff to work with the consultant, Washington, D.C., attorney Larry Gage, to develop a plan for an independent board. Predictably, the vote was 4-3.

A change in oversight should be the next step in limiting UMC’s financial losses, which approach $2 million per week. County commissioners simply don’t have the expertise to turn things around, and a majority of them recognize it. Mr. Weekly, Mr. Collins and Ms. Giunchigliani want to keep their control and make you pay higher taxes — while you somehow manage the rising costs of your own health care.

We hope Mr. Gage and county staff can come up with a governance plan that serves the public interest. It’s past time to stop UMC’s bleeding — whether doing so has full commission support or not.