Funding for the EVHSA is revoked in wake of Riverside challenge that agency is not representative of Peninsula, Williamsburg and Middle Peninsula/Northern Neck citizens

The Commissioner of Health for the Commonwealth of Virginia has revoked the funding of the Eastern Virginia Health Systems Agency and has announced that the state will not recognize their findings until the agency properly represents the region.

“Citizens of the Peninsula, Williamsburg, the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula are almost completely voiceless and as a result we are experiencing extreme bias in decision making regarding what kind of health care services the state will allow us to develop in our communities,” said Riverside President Richard J. Pearce in a local press briefing this morning.

Despite protests from EVHSA director Paul Boynton, the Commissioner’s ruling requires the agency to properly represent citizens other than southside Hampton Roads.

Riverside has continuously objected to the weak Peninsula/Middle Peninsula/Northern Neck representation on the EVHSA. In November 2005, Riverside expressed objections at a formal fact finding conference on the proposed Doctors Hospital of Williamsburg Certificate of Need and then later filed a legal challenge on April 16, 2006.

“The Commissioner’s ruling affirms our position that the agency is not fairly representing the citizens in our region which also offers concern of bias in their decision making,” Pearce said.