Sarasota nurses unseat incumbent Hospital Board members

Two political newcomers vying for seats on the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board beat incumbents in Tuesday’s primary, knocking off a longtime member and one who was appointed earlier this year.

Sharon Wetzler DePeters, an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, beat District 1 Board Member John de Jongh and challenger Michael T. Sutphin with 41% of the countywide vote. The Hospital Board voted to appoint de Jongh, a retired executive who garnered 37% of the 30,783 ballots cast, to the seat in January.

For District 3, also an at-large seat, Hospital Board Vice Chairwoman Dr. Marguerite Malone was upset by Susan Tucker, a Registered Nurse, by roughly four percentage points. 

Tucker, in an email to the Sarasota Observer, said she was opposed to Sarasota Memorial opening a hospital in Venice or North Port. 

“The commute is not a cumbersome one, and most patients that I work with prefer SMH, as they know from previous experiences that they are taken care of,” Tucker said.

That stands in contrast to Malone, who said she would “strongly support” a presence in Venice.

Wetzler DePeters said the current tax rate the Hospital Board sets is too low in some aspects.

Neither of the winners said they would be in favor of privatizing the local hospital.