On March 17, the Board of Commissioners for Kittitas County Public Hospital District No. 2 appointed Fred Benjamin to fill a vacant commissioner position.
Commissioners for Kittitas County Public Hospital District No. 2 are publicly elected to six-year terms; appointments occur when a position is vacated during an active term. Mike Nevills held the vacated position from January 2006 until his death in December 2013.
Fred is a lifelong resident of Kittitas County. After graduating from Cle Elum High School in 1965 he completed a degree in Industrial Technology at Central Washington University. He has recently retired from the Washington State Department of Transportation, where he ended his 34-year career as the Equipment Superintendent of the South Central Region. In this position, he managed over 30 employees.
In addition to his career with the Washington State Department of Transportation, Fred acted as a volunteer with the Cle Elum Fire Department from 1975 through 2011. During his years as a volunteer, he was active with both fire and emergency medical services response. Though he retired from the fire department in 2011, he has maintained his emergency medical technician (EMT) certification so that he may provide training in first aid and CPR.
Fred is pleased to be able to devote more time to serving his community during his retirement. He will serve until the November 2014 general election, at which time the position will be publicly elected. The successful candidate of this election will serve the remainder of the six-year term, which expires in 2017. Fred will be eligible to run for the position during the November 2014 general election, if he so chooses.
Kittitas County Public Hospital District No. 2 is primarily funded by local property taxes. It operates the only advanced life support ambulance service in Upper Kittitas County, Medic One. The public hospital district also subsidizes a portion of the operations of KVH Urgent Care – Cle Elum to ensure access to after-hours care for Upper Kittitas County residents.
