Ada County commissioners select controversial doctor Ryan Cole for health board
Ada County commissioners selected Dr. Ryan Cole, a pathologist with a history of spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, as the latest member of the Central District Health Board of Health.
At least five commissioners from the other counties in the district — Boise, Elmore and Valley counties — must vote in favor of Cole to confirm the appointment, which will come at a later date.
Commissioner Rod Beck, the deciding vote Tuesday on Cole’s appointment, pointed to support from local community leaders as his reason for supporting Cole. The mayors of Star, Eagle and Garden City submitted letters supporting Cole.
“I would go to Dr. Cole if I had a medical issue,” Beck said. “I trust him thoroughly.”
Beck previously had indicated support for Dr. Stan Moss at the commission’s Aug. 10 meeting, which was postponed after Commissioner Kendra Kenyon proposed a compromise to allow Moss to serve in the role, while Cole and other candidate Dr. Sky Blue acted as consultants.
Ultimately, all signs of a compromise dissipated Tuesday morning, as a simple majority of two Republicans on the three-member commission threw their support behind a polarizing medical figure.
Cole was selected over the other two candidates in what became a politicized process. Local political groups, including the Ada County Republican Party, organized campaigns to send letters to commissioners in favor of certain candidates.
In the past, the health board has voted on mask mandates and other pandemic-related restrictions. However, a law enacted this year by the Idaho Legislature gives county commissions veto power over these decisions, rendering the board mostly advisory.
One member of the health board must be a licensed physician in the state; until Cole is confirmed, no other doctors currently hold a board position.
“Dr. Cole has been one of the few doctors that have mentioned alternatives to the vaccine,” Commissioner Ryan Davidson said.
Davidson has previously lauded Cole for his views on individual rights and said he relates to his “outsider” status.
Kenyon, the commission’s lone Democrat, cast the only vote against Cole’s appointment and said she was disappointed by the selection. She noted the board received letters from the Idaho Medical Association and local doctors in support of Blue, while warning of the danger of Cole’s views.
“I think it’s a sad day when this body would go against our medical community,” she said.
She also criticized Cole for profiting off of COVID-19 tests while downplaying vaccines, which she said “flies in the face of ethics.” Cole performed thousands of COVID-19 antibody tests in the early days of the pandemic.
Davidson responded he was “troubled” by Ada County hospitals requiring their employees to get vaccinated and that he didn’t believe Blue would “stand up” against them.
The owner of Cole Diagnostics in Garden City, Cole has reiterated a debunked claim that the vaccine has killed thousands of people, and he has referred to it as a “clot shot” and “needle rape.”
He’s also promoted the use of ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, to treat COVID-19 against the recommendations of the Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization. More Idahoans have been taking ivermectin for COVID-19 in recent months.
The Idaho and Ada County Democratic parties issued a joint statement Tuesday lamenting Cole’s selection.
“Regardless of party affiliation, Cole is an unacceptable choice for any health board, as the medical professional community has indicated,” the parties said.
If approved by the other counties’ commissioners, Cole will serve on the board for a five-year term. He did not return multiple requests for comment for this story.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 10:51 AM.
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