Six will campaign for three Palomar Health board seats

Three challengers will be taking on three incumbents seats on the Palomar Health board during the Nov. 8 election.

Dale Bardin, a healthcare analyst; Joy Gorzeman, a registered nurse and educator; and Doug Moir, a physician, have qualified for the ballot.

So have incumbents Linda Greer, a registered nurse seeking her fifth term on the board; Jeff Griffith, a fire captain/paramedic seeking his second term; and Aeron Wickes, a medical doctor also seeking his second term.

Each of the three open seats comes with a four-year term. The board has seven directors, picked by voters in staggered elections every two years.

Of the challengers, Bardin has run for the board before. Two years ago he failed to get elected among a field of 14 candidates competing for four seats.

Palomar Health is the area’s public health district, serving an 850-square-mile area that includes Poway, Rancho Bernardo, 4S Ranch and adjacent communities. Its facilities include Pomerado Hospital and Villa Pomerado nursing care facility, both in Poway, and the 11-story Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. Its trauma center covers more than 2,200 square miles of South Riverside and North San Diego counties.

The health district is in the process of closing its Palomar Health Downtown Campus, also based in Escondido, with some of its departments being transferred to its Poway facilities.