Onvida leaders put $38,500 into a dormant super PAC weeks before the hospital board election

For most of the last two years, a super PAC called Arizona Grassroots Action PAC wasn't doing much of anything. It's registered with the Federal Election Commission, it gets its mail at an office suite in Alexandria, Virginia, and it started 2026 with about $86,600 in the bank. Its big moment came a decade ago, when it reported more than $4.2 million in independent expenditures during the 2016 election cycle, about half of it spent opposing Kelli Ward's run for the U.S. Senate.

Then September happened.

Between September 18 and September 30, the PAC took in $38,500 from nine people. According to the report it filed with the FEC on October 15, that was the only money it had raised since January 2025.

All nine donors told the FEC they work for Onvida Health, the company that runs Yuma's hospital, or for Yuma Regional Medical Center, which is what the hospital was called before it became Onvida.

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters pick three members of the Yuma Hospital District No. 1 board. That's the board that manages the hospital property Onvida leases. The land and buildings belong to the district, which means they belong to the public. So yes, I think this is worth knowing before you get to that part of the ballot.

Who gave

Here's what the PAC reported, with employers and occupations exactly as the donors listed them:

Source: FEC Schedule A, filing FEC-2027233

Schedule D debts and obligations, FEC-2027233: $38,958.83 owed to Arizona Grassroots Advocates, Mesa, "Strategic Consulting/Voter Outreach"

These aren't nine random people who happen to work at the hospital. Eight of the nine appear on Onvida's own leadership page, and all eight sit at the top of it. Robert Trenschel, who listed his occupation as physician, is Onvida's president and CEO. The other seven are its chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief nursing officer, chief digital and information officer, chief experience officer, chief marketing and communications officer, and general counsel. The ninth, William Lowden, gave $500 and listed himself as a lawyer at the hospital. He isn't on the leadership page.

Nothing about this is illegal on its face. People can give unlimited amounts to a super PAC, and the folks who run a hospital are allowed to care who sits on the board connected to it.

Where the paper trail stops

That's as far as the documents go, at least tonight.

Bob Cuckler, who runs the "What's really going on in Yuma AZ" Facebook page, posted this donor list and says the PAC has been running ads for three of the six candidates: Leanne Worthen, Bruce Gwynn and Josh Finkbeiner. His list checks out against the FEC filing, name for name and dollar for dollar. Yuma Informed has not yet confirmed the ads, what they cost, or who paid for them.

The FEC report can't settle that. It only runs through September 30, when the PAC had spent just $1,504.20 for the quarter, so it tells us nothing about October. It also shows the PAC carrying about $39,000 in debts to Arizona Grassroots Advocates for strategic consulting and voter outreach. And a federal tally of zero independent expenditures doesn't rule out ads in a local race. Under Arizona law, the county elections officer is the filing officer for special taxing district elections like this one, so Yuma County's campaign finance records are where we're looking next.

There's also no evidence so far that Worthen, Gwynn or Finkbeiner asked for this help, coordinated with the PAC, or even knew about it. Super PACs can back candidates who never asked them to.

Cuckler emailed the three candidates eleven questions on Friday, October 30, gave them until 5 p.m. Monday, and reports that none of them answered. I wouldn't read too much into that. A deadline that falls over a weekend on the eve of an election is a short fuse, and some of his questions assume things the record doesn't show yet. Others are fair game for anyone running for this board: what is your relationship with Onvida, and what should the board do if Onvida breaks its lease?

Why this board matters to Onvida

The hospital district and Onvida are landlord and tenant. The district owns the property. Onvida leases it and runs the hospital. And it hasn't been a quiet arrangement. In 2020 the hospital, then still called Yuma Regional Medical Center, sued the district in a dispute over the lease. That fight ran four years. When the two settled in September 2024, they signed a new lease that gives the district a chance to get real information about the hospital's facilities and weigh in on them. The hospital also agreed to fund repayment credits for property owners who'd been hit with the district's secondary property tax.

So when the tenant's leadership quietly funds an outside group in the same season the landlord's board is up for election, I think it's fair to ask why. The answer might be ordinary. People with a lot riding on the hospital have opinions about who should oversee it, and they spent their own money to say so. That's what super PACs are for. But voters should get to weigh that before the ballots are counted, not after.

Responses

Yuma Informed did not have time to reach Onvida Health, Arizona Grassroots Action PAC or the three candidates before publishing on the eve of the election. We'll add their responses if they offer them.

What's next

The PAC's next federal report, and any filings with Yuma County election officials, should show where the October money went. We'll update this story when they surface. If you've gotten a mailer, a text or an online ad about the hospital board race that names Arizona Grassroots Action PAC, we'd like to see it.