North Shore Health board continues discussion of trust, relationships

The North Shore Health Hospital Board continued to discuss how best to address issues of trust and relationships during its August meeting, a topic the governing body has grappled with for much of the summer.

Discussions on the topic date back to the May meeting, when lengthy proceedings and prolonged debate prompted one board member to leave before the meeting concluded. Since then, the board has sought ways to improve relationships among its members, but board member Patty Winchell-Dahl said they are running out of time.

“Maybe we should wait until elections because you know we don’t know if this board is going to be there,” Winchell-Dahl said during the meeting. “Why put money out if the board is going to change. ”

At the July board meeting, Winchell-Dahl suggested the board participate in a talking circle to help members communicate. Winchell-Dahl contacted someone she believed could facilitate the process, but said the individual wanted to attend the September board meeting before agreeing to do so. That timeline would leave the board with only a few meetings before the end of the year.

Board Chair Randy Wiitala suggested an alternative would be to reach out to another outside group for assistance.

“An idea is maybe to take a look at an outside resource such as that, that maybe they could help our group understand a bit more about how trust is established and how is it lost and how do you regain it,” Wiitala said.

“I would like to see us act faster,” Board member Sam Usem said. “Now we’re going to be 60-plus days from when we noticed that this is an issue.”

Winchell-Dahl questioned whether the issue was trust or personality conflicts and asked Usem to define trust.

Wiitala referred to a podcast he had sent to board members about how long repairing relationships within the board could take.

“When trust is broken, it could take upwards of 12 to 18 months to re-establish trust as individuals and as an organization. So moving fast doesn’t seem like that’s going to be a solution,” Wiitala said.

Board member Milan Schmidt discussed an instance in which he said he felt he had been treated differently from other board members. Schmidt said all board members received a letter from North Shore Health’s attorney informing them that he had violated the Minnesota Open Meeting Law by sending an email wishing fellow board members a happy birthday. Schmidt said Wiitala had also recently been notified of an Open Meeting Law violation but received the communication privately.

“To be told that I have violated open meeting law by sending information to individual board members, and I got called on the carpet. I got a letter from the attorney, and I presume Randy did too,” Schmidt said. “When I do it, I get a nasty letter that’s sent to everybody. When Randy does it, he gets a private conversation or private letter. ”

The board asked Winchell-Dahl to invite the potential facilitator to its September meeting.

Questions about the roles of board members and administration arose again during a discussion about the hospital’s selection of an electronic health record platform. Hospital administrators told the board they were considering hiring a consultant to assist with the process. Usem proposed using his industry experience to help initiate the discussion while the administration worked to hire a consultant.

“Sam, it sounds to me like you want to be a consultant, and I think that’s in conflict with being a board member,” Wiitala said.

“No, he said he had skills. He was useful in starting this. That is not the same as him trying to take over and lead the project. I’m sorry, but it’s not the same,” Schmidt said.

The exchange came as the board continues to debate its governance structure and the roles of individual board members. Usem previously proposed creating a governance committee to help the board better understand governance and its relationship to its work.

Winchell-Dahl and Wiitala voted against the proposal at the July board meeting. Board members Kay Frykman and Usem have since worked together to explore the creation of a committee and plan to include Patrick O’Neil, North Shore Health’s director of rehabilitation, to provide a community perspective.

WTIP spoke with CEO Kimber Wraalstad after the board meeting about the 2027 levy, hospital finances and other topics. Audio of the conversation can be found below.

Josh Hinke September 2, 2026