The Riverside County Board of Supervisors this week voted to fill a pair of vacancies on the Palo Verde Healthcare District (PVHD) Board of Directors by both election and appointment.
The first vacancy, created by the November 30, 2025, resignation of Director Rosie Rowell, is set to be filled by election this coming November.
“As it relates to the vacancy that was created in late November, that item is coming too late to the board of supervisors to appoint an individual to fill that vacancy, so that vacancy must go to an election,” County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said at the March 3 meeting. “The time for that election, again, pursuant to the government code, would be the November 2026 general election.”
The second vacancy, created by the January 7 resignation of Director Dr. David Brooks, is set to be filled by provisional appointment.
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“I’m already ready to be making a decision very soon,” Supervisor V. Manuel Perez said. “If we have everybody’s names already, and we feel like that’s enough, let me know, and let me see that list once again, and then I’ll bring forward the name of the individual, but I want to move on this quickly.”
The PVHD board reached out to the county last month for help filling the vacancies after failing to complete the appointment process due to lack of a quorum at two consecutive special meetings.
“While we understand the county’s appointment process may take additional time, this approach offers the most practical and reliable path forward under the current constraints,” Garnica said in the letter. “If the county agrees to make appointments to the [PVHD board], I believe it is more likely that a quorum can be consistently achieved.”
The supervisors are expected to make the appointment at the regularly scheduled March 24 meeting.
Also on March 3, both the supervisors and PVHD ratified a modified loan agreement that allowed the county to loan an additional $3.45 million to the district to pay for the healthcare provider to participate in the state’s Medi-Cal Intergovernmental Transfer Voluntary Rate Range Program, which unlocked millions in additional funding for the struggling hospital.
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